You can t be sirius!
by Allytsuki
Summary: Harry caughed slightly. "Ehm...Ally..."She still stroke Sirius head gently. "That s him..."- "Who?" - "..Sirius..." Immedately her hand stopped stroking. "Harry, that s a dog." - "Well...Sirius is kind of an animagus..." - "Y-You mean...I j-just...pet your..."
1. Prologue

**Full summary**_**: It is Harry´s summer after the fourth year, when this strange women appeared on the **__**doorsteps**_ of Private Drive number 4. And suddenly he can live with his infamous godfather. Harry is overfilled with joy and it seems, that Sirrius is quite keen on this women...

...

…

**Prologue**

…

It was late July, when this women first appeared onto the doorstep of Private Drive number 4 in Little Whinningh.

She wore a typical buisness outfit, like she came directly from an important meeting in a mighty firm. A heavy looking briefcase in one hand and her car keys in the other, she pressed the doorbell and waited patiently until the door opened; showing a not very pleased Vernon Dursley.

„What do you want?", he sneered. Not even bothering to ask who rang the bell at this hour. From the living room the television resounded odly loud.

„Who´s it?", yelled Petunia Dursley, but didn´t wait for an answer and came wrapping a thin scarf around her shoulders immedately to the doorstep, prepared to chase somebody together with her husband off.

„Nobody!", he said and turned his head back to the intruder. „We don´t buy any Bibles or whaddaya call your tower thing!"

The women smiled at his harsh words. „I´m not a Jehovas witness and I´m deeply and truly sorry to disturb your peaceful eavening."

Mr Dursley snorted. „The hell you should!"

The women ignored it gallantly and went on. „My name is Elli Cooper and I´m from the youth welfare office."

„And what buisness do you have with us?" Mr Dursleys finger were twitching strangely while holding the doorhandle.

„This matter shouldn´t be discussed in passing. May I come in?"

„Fine...", grumbled Mr Dursley and let Ms Cooper pass into the hall. Mrs Duryley lead her to the kitchen and bid her to sit down.

Ms Cooper pulled some papers out of her briefcase and klicked with her pen. After the Dursley followed her example she started to talk.

„The youth welfare office sent me here to inform you that at the beginning of the new month you will probably loose the custody over your nephew."

What a lot of people would have identefy as shock, the Dursley were surprised. Too surprised about finaly get rid of this little bloodsucker to form a word.

„The Proposition was turned in nearly two months ago and after invastigating the case, the last will of Lily Potter nee Evans and James Potter also suppported it."

„We-We won´t be any longer Harry Potter´s guardians?", Mrs Dursley stuttered. Her eyes glowing with excitment.

„Like...He will no longer be living here...under another roof...far away from us?", Mr Dursley concluded breathless.

„Apartently, yes. You could turn in objection, but the chance is very low, that you could keep the custody."

For a moment the kitchen fell into a deep silent. The Dursleys weren´t able to express their

euphoria, not even in actions. Finaly, after almost fourteen years they would be free of this little bloodsucker. No more struggels with magic, no more booms, bangs and blown up cousins and sisters. No flying cakes nor crying owls. They. Were. Free.

„I see you need time to comprehend this. So I have a little chat with-" Ms Cooper took a look at her papers. „Harry and you can look over the documents."

„Yes, Yes! Ofcourse!" Mrs Dursley jumped onto her feet. „The stairs up an the first door left!"

„Thank you." Ms Cooper smiled and followed Mrs Dursley description. „I´ll be right back!"

„No, No!", chuckled Mr Dursley. „Take all the time you need!" The chuckle transformed to a laugh when Ms Cooper set her foot on the first step.

She let out a heavy sighed before she knocked gently on the door infront of her.

„I´m already sleeping, unlce Vernon!", grumbled a boy.

„I´m not your uncle, Harry. Please let me in!"

She heard the ruffling of a blanket and shortyly after that the door opened slowly. The face of a quite pale boy with messed black hair and green eyes appeared.

„Who are you?", he asked while he put glasses on his nose.

„Can I come in first?"

Harry liked her from the start. She had dark brown or black hair (he couldn´t see it in this light) and big, friendly brown eyes. Sure, she wore this pantsuit, but it suited her. Her heels made her taller as she already was and the briefcase in her hand let her seem older than she probably was.

„Yeah, come in!" Timid, he stepped by side and the strange women came into his room. Her smile dropped a bit, when she scanned his (certanly not tidy) room. The she faced Harry again.

„Can I sit down?" She pointed at his stool next to his desk. Harry nodded and with no hestitaion she sat down. „Thanks."

Now in the light of his desk and ceiling lamp he could spot a few freckels on her nose and cheeks. It looked cute, he thought.

Harry slumped on his bed. What wanted this women? She did not seem like a deatheater. Or anything alike. But also, she showed no traits of a witch. He decided to gather his courage and spoke up: „Who are you?"

She smiled warmly. „For now, I´am Elli Cooper from the youth welfare office."

Harry couldn´t believe his ears. After fourteen years of living with the dursleys, somebody finaly called them and told them how badly they treated him? His thoughts would have gone wild, if he hadn´t noticed „For now".

„For...now?"

„Yes, for now." She smiled warmly. „In...argh...what day of July have we?" She started to search through her briefcase.

„The twentysixth...", said Harry. He counted everyday until he could leae this hell hole and go back to Hogwarts.

„Ah, thank you! - So in five days, the 31st , I will pick you up with all your stuff and bring you to your next relative..." She took something out of her briefcase.

„I don´t have any more relatives."

„Oh, ofcourse you do." Her smile widened. „You have your godfather!"

Dumbfunded Harry stared at her. She knew about Sirius?

„So, be prepared and don´t forget anything. I don´t think you will come back to this _place_."

Before she left, she gave him the thing she pulled out of her briefcase. And after she got into her car and drove away, he recognized it. It was a packet of chocolate frogs.

…...

**So this is my first try of a Harry Potter Fanfiction.**

**This will be definetly a Sirius/OC ! Don´t forget. It´s just a prologue.**

**Half canon/half not. Will be how I feel like.**

**Thank you for reading^^**


	2. First Meeting

….

….

**First meeting**

…..

On the 31st of July Harry was so excited, he couldn´t sleep the whole night.

When Ms Cooper left his room, he thought he had dreamed everything. But after he heard uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia loudly talking about Harry´s soon absent a pure feeling of joy ran through his veins. And he almost died in these slow six days. It almost seemed like that the Dursley had wanted to make this remaning days pure hell for Harry. Uncle Vernon was harsher and ruder than ever and aunt Petunia was so tipsy, she broke her favourite Vase and punished Harry.

Dudley decided that, now that his punshing bag was leaving, he should use this six days to show Harry what he would be missing.

So when the sun rose above the roofs of Private Drive, Harry began to walk up and down in his room. She hadn´t said at what time she would be here, but he hoped it would be in the morning. He would have a whole month with Sirius. With his family.

Maybe the Ron and the rest of the Weasley family would visit. He could invite his friends, because Sirius liked them (okay he knew only Ron and Hermione, but he certanly be fine with them at first). Hedwig could fly how she felt like, ´cause Sirius would be fine with it.

But Harry had to wait until nine o´clock for Ms Cooper to pull into Private Drive with her car. The Dursleys had just finished their breakfast (Harry was too excited to attend and he doubted he was allowed) and as the doorbell rang it was Harry who jumped down the stairs and ran to the door.

„Hi!", he almost choked.

„Hello, Harry.", smiled Ms Cooper.

She wore again a pantsuit. But now in the daylight, he could see her better. She had quite dark brown hair pulled into a ponytsil and a lot of freckels in her face. Her brown eyes, were now a mix of green and light brown. She was just an inch taller than him and a bit chubby. Only a bit. In some way she reminden him of Mrs Weasly. Maybe the way she smiled at him was it.

„Are you ready to take off?" Confused he wrinkled his forehead. Take off? He wasn´t a plane.

„Oh..." She spotted her mistake „Mist. Wie sagt man das?" Was that german? „I´m sorry, Harry. Ofcourse you´re not a plane." Her smile wore of to some apologic midthing. „Have you packed everything?"

Harry nodded. „I´ll get my things!"

Uncle Vernon himself helped them to pack everything in Ms Coopers small car. Albeit he talked to himsellf euphoric and with a strange glicen in his eyes.

Harry had Hedwig on his lap, when they finaly drove off, after Ms Cooper bid her farewell and shoke both uncle Vernons and aunt Petunias hand. Still smiling, although unlce Vernon said

„Finaly he´s gone! Let´s drink some congac."

At first Ms Cooper just smiled at him and Harry smiled back, but when they drove through the streets of London she began to speak.

„Are you excited?", she asked and turned the radio on.

„Yes...I still can´t believe I can live with Sirius."

„He´s your godfather, isn´t he?"

„My fathers best mate. They went to Hogwarts together."

„I already thought it would be like it.", she nodded. „Dumbledore only told me to bring you to him."

„Dumbledore sent you?" Harry was surprised. He thought Dumbledore was the one wwho wanted him to stay with the Dursleys until he was off age.

„Well, yes. He sent me a letter and told me to pick you up, but didn´t say how. So I thought it would be better to use this youth welfare excuse and a false name."

She was a good lier. The Dursleys never questioned her appearance. Why not? Ms Cooper even had false documents with her.

„Your name isn´t Elli Cooper?", he asked either way.

„No. My name is Alina. Back in Hogwarts they called me Ally." She smiled wide „I know, not very creative."

„I like it." Harry´s face redded a bit. Hedwig ruffled her feathers to get her masters attention back.

„Thanks, Harry." She glanced at her wristwatch and sighed. „I´m sorry, but I think we need at least a hour until we reach your godfather´s home."

„It´s not that bad...", mumbled Harry.

Honestly, he was so curious about her and he was already far away from the Dursley´s, that one hour more or less wouldn´t kill him.

„Can I ask you something?"

Surprised Alina turned her head to him. (The traffic light was red) „Sure. Shoot it!"

On Harry´s disturbed face she, again, saw her mistake.

„Just ask...", she laughed embaressed.

„How come Professor Dumbledore sent you...I mean no offence but-"

„It´s okay Harry. In Germany we say „who does not ask stays dumb!"" She grinned and put her foot back on the gas pedal.

„Professor Dumbledore asked me, **because **your aunt and uncle don´t know me. And dead honest: I don´t look like a well trained witch in defends against dark arts." She laughed loud. „If somebody had observed you, he wouldn´t have suspected me of taking you somewhere else."

„But that´s exactly what you are doing now!"

„That´s because I made sure nobody was watching you."

Suddenly she pushed the break. „**Ihr** **verdammten Briten, könnt noch nicht Mal links und rechts voneinander unterscheiden**!", she screamed furious and pressed the horn. „Sorry for my outburst, but your fellow countrymans are the worst drivers I´ve ever seen. Honestly, who wants to drive on the left side?"

Harry had to laugh. She was so strange that it was almost too funny to bear.

„Open the glove locker!"

Harry did as he was ordered and took a look. Some chocolate bar paper, empty chewing gum boxes and a map of London were the first things which leapt into his eye. And then something he recognized from Hogwarts.

„A sneakoscope?"

„Yep. I hid one above your roof and one at your window. I charmed them, so they would sent any information to this one here." Alina nodded to the sneakoscope in Harry´s hands.

„Cool...You can do that?" Harry was amazed. Something like that would only Hermione be able to do. He decided to ask her back in Hogwarts or write her instead.

„You must have been in Ravenclaw.", he concluded.

„Oh, sadly no." Her smile faded a bit. „ But it wasn´t that bad in Hufflepuff."

„Hufflepuff?" That, besides Slytherin, was the last house he expected her to be in.

„The speaking hat needed almost fifteen minutes to put me somewhere. Not nerve enough to be in Gryffindor, not ruthless enough to achieve my goals to be in Slytherin, not really interested to toil whole day to be in Hufflepuff and not witty enough for Ravenclaw he said." She clicked with her tounge. „And I was always the one, who mothered over the smaller and weaker ones. Even the boys started to call me Mummie." She sighed. „But it´s really not that bad in Hufflepuff as they say. Blokes and stupid gits are everywhere, even in Gryffindor." She smiled at him again. „It was nice."

Nice? Harry couldn´t believe his ears. At Hogwarts _just_ nice? Hogwarts was freaking awesome.

Alina laughed loud. „You should see your face!" _Suddenly_ she pushed the break...hard.

„Damn it! Wrong street...", she mumbled. Harry had to correct the position of his glasses.

After turning around and driving backwarts the current street she turned off into the next road.

„I´m sorry again. I really hate - no loathe - the city. Everything looks the same to me."

„As long as we get to Sirius´ place alive, I´d be statisfied." The laughed.

„I´ll try my best."

.

.

.

They got there alive. But as soon as Harry spottet the houses his excitment fell a bit.

_The grimy fronts of the surrounding houses were not welcoming: some of them had broken windows, glimmering dully in ther light from the streetlamps, paint was peeling from mmany of the doors and heaps of rubbish lay outside severel sets of front steps. _

_(Harry Potter – Order of the Pheonix)_

„Well, here we are..." Alinas face fell by the sight infront of her. „I can´t believe I´m saying this, but maybe he wrote me the wrong address down..." She searched for her briefcase and pulled a piece of paper out of one of the compartments. Harry recognized the writing. It was Dumbledore´s.

„Grimmauld Place 12

London Islington", she read out loud. Then she glanced around this questinable neibourhood.

„No, I think we are really here, although there´s no number twelve. The house must be under the Fidelius charm or something like that...But Dumbledore also said, he´d wait for us..."

She looked at her watch. „And it´s already half to twelve..."

„He´ll come...I´m houndred percent sure."It was impossible that Sirius would not come for him. The heck! He said that he wanted Harry to live with him.

„Okay, maybe he does not see us. Let´s get out of the car!" Without hestitation she stepped out of the car. „Come on, Harry. You will grow roots." She absolutly needed a dictionary.

Nobody was outside. Not even a car passed the street.

„Harry, how does your godfather look like?", she asked while looking in the oposite direction.

„Black hair, tall, maybe a beard..." It shocked Harry deeply: He couldn´t remember Sirius face anymore. Only this deep hurt and loss.

„I can´t see him.", sighed Alina and leaned backk at her car. „There was this man a crossroad further, but he was blond..."

Harry´s face fell.

„Don´t be sad, Harry." Alina put her hand comforting on his shoulder. „He will come. Look, he persuaded Dumbledore that you could live with him. And to persuade Dumbledore about something like that is really hard." Harry nodded. „He will come. The hope dies at the end." this words made him smile weakly. The hope dies last.

Something nudged at his pants. What he saw made him euphoric. It was a big, black dog.

„Oh, how cute!", Alina practally sang. She bend down an scratched him behind his ears and started to speak in German to him.

Harry saw Sirius´ amused eyes looking at him. „Ehm...Ally..."

„Yes?" She still stroke Sirius´ head gently.

„That´s him..."

„Who?"

„...Sirius..."

Immedately her hand stopped stroking and it almost seemed to Harry, that his godfather was disappointed.

„Harry, that´s a dog."

„Well...Sirius is kind off an animagus..."

Like hit by a bat she stumbled back and fell directly on her but. „Y-You mean...I j-just...pet your..."

Harry nodded and the dog/sirius grinned...kind of.

„You can´t be serious!" With her face flushing red, which could challenge a tomato, and trembling legs she stood up. And to go on better: One moment there´d stood a dog and the other a men in flesh and blood.

„I am Sirius!"

…...

…...

**Yes, I put in there mistakes on purpose (the most)**

**And I liked how J.K. Rowling described Grimmauld Place so I used hers.**

**Maybe you noticed: My first language is German not English.**

**If you can give me tips in either language or writing feel free to leave a comment!**

**Thank you for reading^^**


	3. First defeat

…

**First defeat**

…

With glowing red cheeks and legs out of jelly she stepped up to Sirius Black.

"I'm deeply so – I mean, I'm sorry I – I did not intend to, I –"

Sirius laughed. "No need to be so –" He couldn't describe the scene before his eyes. There stood this totally embarrassed woman, stuttering like a child and red like a tomato. It was hilarious.

And instead of torturing this woman any longer, he turned to his godson and pulled him into a fierce hug.

"I'm glad I see you again," he said.

"Me too."

They parted and turned their attention back to Alina.

"Thank you for bringing Harry," Sirius smiled, honest and pure. Almost like a child. And children were forgiven everything when they smiled honestly at her.

"I'm glad I could be of use to the order," she smiled back. "But I think we haven´t been properly introduced. My name is Alina."

"Sirius Black."

As they shook hands, Sirius had to notice: her grip was almost bone crushing. _For a woman,_ he added.

"So, I think I should leave now. You and your godfather have a lot to discuss." She turned to Harry again and smiled.

"Already?" Harry was disappointed. He known this woman only shortly and was so comfortable in her presence that, together with Sirius, it would feel a lot more like home.

Of course, with Sirius, it would be enough, but he still thought about a family. A family with parents...And as soon as this thought came to his mind, he froze. That was too far. It was the lack of sleep that drove him so far so as to want Ally in his 'family'.

"Yes, why?" said Sirius. Alina looked at him in surprise. "Come in for some tea, and I think I saw some biscuits in one of the cupboards."

At that exact moment, Harry's stomach began to growl. Loudly.

"My goodness Harry, haven´t you eaten breakfast?" asked Alina in amusement. "It sounds like you've swallowed a banshee!"

Sirius laughed. "Right, let's get going. And you too, Ally." He turned to face her, grinning. "Harry´s friends are my friends."

She acknowledged her defeat and sighed. "Alright. But Just for ten minutes. Harry, get your owl. I'll take it and you take one of your trunks. Sirius will take your Hogwarts trunk," she ordered.

When she stepped over the threshold, she nearly dropped the owl. The most charming voice on the whole planet was shouting and cursing at her and she did the only thing she thought was right: she screamed. Immediately, Sirius jumped between her and the portrait and pulled the curtains over it.

"Sorry, that's my mother," he smiled apologetically. "She hates visitors."

"I see that..." she laughed breathlessly.

"Are you alright?" For a moment, she was lost in his eyes, but snapped out of it when Harry cried, "This house is awesome!"

Finally, she glanced around the hall and gasped. _Everything_ was full of dust and spider webs. Not a lot of light broke through the dirty windows and it was certainly NOT homely.

"You can´t be serious!" she coughed, while putting the owl in its cage on one of the stairs. "You want to raise a child in this –" She started to make weird sounds. Almost like a bird.

:Why not?" With the purest innocence Alina ever saw, Sirius stared at her like she´d talked about Nargles. Not that she knew what those even were.

"This place is...I´m sorry Mr Black, but I can´t let Harry stay in this – this place!"

"First of all, call me Sirius. Mr Black sounds so old. And second of all, it just needs a bit of spring cleaning."

"Sp-Spring cleaning?" She raised her hands. "This house needs to be – to be –" She looked at Harry helplessly.

"What do you call this procedure, when a ruin is rebuilt and so on?"

"Eh...it´s restored?" Unsure, he looked at her then at Sirius.

"Yes! I knew it! It was to restore! Anyway, this house doesn't need a simple spring cleaning. It wouldn´t surprise me if this cave – argh...what was the word...Harry, how do you call it, when a building or a complex – ah! Collapses! This place collapses! I mean, will collapse!" She was in such a rage that it wouldn´t surprise Harry and Sirius if her hair suddenly caught on fire.

"Please calm down, Ally." Harry tried to resolve the situation. "It´s fine with me."

Shocked, she turned to the boy and approached him. "Harry, you can´t be serious. I doubt there´s even a full fridge."

"What's a fridge?" Alina turned to Sirius, then back to Harry.

"See? Oh, mein gott. This is so ridiculous."

"No, Ally. Please! I want to stay with him!" Harry looked deep into her eyes.

"You really want to..." She shook her head. "I can´t believe this."

"Ally, I will take care of him. He is my godson and I am his guardian." Sirius spoke so confidently, like only a Gryffindor could, and she acknowledged, for the second time this day, her defeat to Sirius Black and Harry Potter.

"Alright," Alina laughed weakly. Sirius and Harry grinned mischievously. In any other situation, she would have admitted that it was quite adorable.

"But under two conditions: first, we have to feed poor Harry. I can hear his stomach growling up here. And secondly, this house has to be tidy and free of –" she sneezed, "- dust."

…

When Sirius showed her his kitchen, she nearly fainted. It was in a more terrible condition than the hall. She couldn´t believe her eyes.

And after she inspected the biscuits in the cupboard and concluding that even they were possibly dangerous for Harry´s health, she decided to appeal to the neighbours for something else.

Shortly after the door fell into its lock, Sirius exhaled.

"Ar you sure she's just a witch?" he asked Harry. His godson laughed loudly.

"Yes, I am."

"Quite feisty." There was a gleam in the older man's eyes. He had finally found a challenge in his life of a prisoner in his own house.

"Well, it is the first time I saw her like that, but it suits her." The two of them then started laughing.

"She reminds me of Molly," Sirius said, amused and started comparing both women in his thoughts. Alina was a bit taller than Molly and had brown hair instead of red, and she looked a hell of a lot cuter when she was so fired up.

"Yeah, me too..."

Just as they finished scrubbing plates and a pan, Alina came back. Her arrival was signaled through the screaming of Sirius' mother and, surprisingly, Alina's German cursing that she fired back.

"Okay, I have milk, three eggs and flour, so I'll make pancakes!"

"Great!" said Harry and Sirius in unison.

"But while I'm cooking, you two start cleaning the table and the windows!"

Like two punished boys they began pouting (seriously, one of them was nearly forty!) and made their to the windows, two ripped rags in their hands. Just when it seemed that Alina was calming down, something else took it upon itself to annoy her.

"Frying without butter! That's just great!"

Nearly ten minutes later, they sat at the table and Alina watched was awed by how much the boys swallowed up in two minutes.

"Not so fast, you will –" Sirius and Harry chose that moment to start choking. "- choke yourselves...Really the both of you are behaving like you haven't a meal in a week!"

"Three days to be exact!" bragged Sirius and put another pancake on his plate.

"What? And you, Harry?"

"Yesterday morning," admitted Harry. Both Harry and Sirius ate like there was no tomorrow and Alina regretted getting not enough ingredients.

"Oh my goodness...you can´t be serious..." She had lost count of how often she used this phrase, but decided it would be useless to begin again. Instead, she massaged her temples and it seemed like she would fall again in her old scheme: to be everyone's mother.

"Alright, when you are finished, I will go shopping and you two start cleaning the kitchen and the hall." They stopped eating.

"'D'ou shay?" asked Harry with a full mouth.

"Just for a couple of hours."

"And why?" Sirius swallowed his food and immediately took another bite.

"Because you two are absolutely hopeless on your own! Jesus, you forgot to go shopping to feed your own godson, now you have his custody! What do you want to do next? Sneak out at night? Go into the Forbidden Forest and fight a werewolf? Get convicted?"

„Done, done and...oh, already done!" Sirius face stayed so calm, so serious. In any other situation, she would have thought of him as an adult but now he seemed like a teenage boy fighting his mother.

"You can´t be serious..."

She let her head bang onto the table in desperation and exasperation, while Sirius and Harry continued eating.

…...

…...

**I liked writing this chapter a lot. It was hilarious (I love to torture my characters :D ).**

**And I absolutely love this serious Sirius pun – hell, the title already has it in it!**

**If you can give me tips in either language or writing feel free to leave a comment!**

**Ofcourse I want to thank my lovely beta ****darkangelevanescent** **for editing my work.**

**And again, thank you for reading ^^**


	4. First Spark

…

**First spark**

…

At the end of the day downstairs was tidy and clean enough to pass, but Alina wasn´t very sure what awaited her above the stairs. She only hoped, nothing would run away while she would clean it.

So she ordered Sirius and Harry to clean Harry´s new room, while she prepared dinner.

She thought everything would go as planned. Yeah, and tomorrow her car could fly.

A loud **Bang** interrupted her cullinary master stroke. Shortly followed by two caughing shapse embarking into the kitchen.

„What the hell were you doing up there?", she scolded them.

But something stopped her from hittiging them with her cooking spoon. A disgusting smell.

„We kind of let one of my old dungbombs go by accident.", explained Sirius half laughing, half coughing. Harry looked a bit more guilty. Well, just a little itsy bit.

„What?" She clasped her hand against her face. „I can´t believe this. You were alone for not more than fifteen minutes and you kill almost my- God, what did you put in this thing, Sirius? Make it go away!"

„How should I?"

„For god´s sake! You are a wizard." Instead of waiting and hoping he would use his brain, she took her wand out of her briefcase, which was disposed on one of the chairs, and swayed it.

All the smoke and smell was sucked into her wand and all of them were allowed to breath normally again.

„Thanks, Ally. - Merlin, I totally forgot how bad that bomb stinks." Sirius couldn´t be relieved long.

„I can´t believe this. What were you doing up there?"

„Cleaning...", Harry stated, but he knew, she wouldn´t believe him.

„And how come this little dungbomb was fired up? „

„I already said: It was an accident!" Sirius couldn´t understand her. It was just a little dungbomb. Nobody was hurt; everyone is safe and sound.

Alina took a deep breath. „Then let it never happen again!"

„Why do you have to talk to me like to a child?"

„Because you behave like one, - seriously. You are probably more than ten years older than me and you behave like you are Harry´s age!"

„I certanly do not. And I´m just thirty five."

„But you don´t even behave like that. Only a child would contradict on something like that."

„I do not contradict."

„Ofcourse you do!"

„I do not."

„You do!"

„No, I do not!"

„You do!"

„Do not!"

„You do!" Then she saw Sirius grin. He had tricked her. For awhile she just stared at him with open mouth, but she regained soon her composure. Too soon for Sirius liking. He liked to see her dumbfounded. Espeacially when she was actually right.

„Urgh, forget it! Dinner is almost ready. So pick up the rest of this _dung bomb_ and wash your hands..."

Before Sirius could give a commend on that, Harry pulled him out of the kitchen, trying not to burst out laughing.

.

.

.

When they sat finaly at the table, Alina had already calmed down.

And if somedy would have seen them, they could pass as a normal family – and Harry liked it. The way Alina smiled, scolding Sirius for triffles, the way Sirius laughed full-throutedly, backing his head.

After he told his last story, how he and James pranked Professor (insert random Professor, seriously, they pranked everyone, beside Professor McGonnagal), Sirius wondered in which house Alina was. And bluntly like he was, he asked...with full mouth.

Harry responded without thinking „Hufflepuff!"

Sirius choked. „Hufflepuff?"

„I was also surprised."

Sirius looked at her intensly. From head to toe, the way she behaved, she spoke and everything, she did not look like a sissy Hufflepuff. Apartently his face pictured his belief.

„Honestly, why do Gryffindors always think, we Hufflepuffs are weaklings?"

„We don´t think Hufflepuffs are weak...", mumbled Harry, thinking of Cedric, but comparing him to other Hufflepuffs: Yes, Hufflepuffs were definatly kind of...weak. They were always the worse students, most of them barely pass the year and Hufflepuff loses constantly in Quidditch.

„They are just..." Sirius searched for the right words. He didn´t want to be hit by a spoon.

„We are?" Alina raised her eyebrows.

„-special!", rescued Harry. Well, a bit.

Alina laughed. „Alright. Think what you want, but remember: One day, you might be rescued by one!" She twinkled and looked at her watch. „God. It´s already seven o´clock?"

Sirius checked his pocket watch. „It seems so."

„I have to go. I was supposed to meet someone at the leaking cauldron at eight and I need to change." She stood up and put her plate into the sink.

„You´re going already?", Sirius and Harry said in union.

„Already? The plan was to bring you to your godfather, Harry, and then to go back home and read my new book."

Pure disbelieve was written on their faces. „What a heartless women you are!", deadpaned Sirius.

„Please, I cooked you lunch and dinner, cleaned your house,- What shall I do next? Marry one of you?", she laughed. „It´s time." She walked over to Harry. „Be a good boy and watch over your godfather. I have the feeling he can be as much a child as you. Maybe even more."

Harry grinned. „I will do my best."

When Alina turned to Sirius, he had already had stood up. „I will escort you to the door."

„Oh, okay..."

The short walk to the door they kept silence. Alina too embaressed (never in her live was she escorted by a man), Sirius too deep in thoughts (really, he can think!).At the door arrived an unconftable quiet came over them, but was soon broken by Alina.

„Well, good bye then." She put her hand on the door handle.

„Wait – I mean." He runned his fingers through his deep black hair. „I am sure Harry wants to see you again and you might have noticed I am not the best cook..."

Alina chuckled. „I might."

„So, what do you say? Can we see you again?", he smiled seductively. Every other women would have fainted seeing this smile. Alina´s legs just turned to jelly.

„Allright, but I don´t know when I can visit you again. I have a lot of work to do in the next days."

„It only matters that you will come back."

Alina blushed a litlle. „I will see what I can do!" She smiled and stepped out of the door.

If his mother hadn´t screamed at this moment like a fury, it could have been almost interpreted

romantic.

Almost...

.

.

.

.

.

…...

**So, she´ll be there again!**

**Let´s see what Sirius and Harry are up next to...**

**And again, thank you for reading ^^**


	5. First Concern

…

**First concern**

…

Alina had to come back. That was the only thought on Sirius and Harry´s minds. Maybe for different reasons, but they felt it in their guts.

For Sirius, it was crystal clear: not a single girl had ever resisted his dazzling looks and charm.

Harry reckoned it was because she forgot her wand.

Anyway, the next afternoon, she stood at the front door and rang the bell. Not a blink of an eye later the door was torn open by a breathless Harry.

"Hi, Ally!"

"Hello, Ha - are you alright?" she asked in surprise and glanced over his head into the house. From upstairs, she could hear a cursing Sirius. "And what the hell is going on in there?"

"We're on a Doxy hunt." For proof, he raised his arms, which caused her to gasp - they were full of cuts and bruises. And before she could show her disapproval, Sirius was shouting for Harry.

"Harry! I caught one!"

Without hesitation, Harry raced up the stairs. Suspicious, she followed him and was terrified with what she saw: a completely messed up bedroom. And in the middle of it, two shapes struggled with a tiny little creature.

"You can´t be serious?" she muttered under her breath. Already tired, she leaned against the doorframe and watched how they fought with this thing and forced it into a sack.

They cheered, but were soon interrupted by a throat clearing Alina.

"Can I ask you just one little question?" Both of them nodded blankly.

"Good. So who do you think will tidy up this mess?"

"Well...we will?" Harry suggested.

"That´s a good plan. And how many of these...things are currently in this house?"

"Maybe two dozen?" Sirius didn´t look very confident with his guess. It wouldn't surprise her if there were at least five dozen of them, hiding in wait just to attack her face.

"And how often will you have to tidy up a room, if you catch one Doxy in a row?"

"We could clean at the end of the day," Sirius shrugged. Such aimlessness was too much for Alina's heart to bear.

"I'll get my wand," she sighed tiredly.

"Great! Harry, let´s start with the next room!" Sirius suggested as Harry tried to keep the sack closed. Alina never thought she would stoop so low as to hunt after Doxies for three hours.

.

.

.

"There!" Harry cried. "It´s coming from under the wardrobe!"

"Harry, Ally – block its way!" Sirius jumped forward and tried to grab the Doxy. But instead of catching it, he bumped into the wall. The Doxy ran over his legs to the door, only to be hit by a broom swung by Harry.

"The basket!" Sirius cried from the floor.

Alina tried to scoop the old, wooden basket over the Doxy but right as the brim of the basket touched the ground, it hid under the double bed. She cursed and threw herself onto her stomach.

"I'll chase him out!"

Crawling over the dusty floor she tried to scare the Doxy from under the bed. Unfortunately, it was not very impressed with her waving arms.

"Harry, pass me the broom!" Something poked not very gently in her side. "Ow!"

"Sorry!" Harry shouted back.

With the tip of the broomstick, she poked the Doxy in the head and finally it stormed out from under the bed and she heard Sirius and Harry throw the basket over it.

"WE GOT IT!" they cheered.

"Thank God!" Alina moaned and crawled backwards. "I thought this would take forever!"

Stuck in her hair were spider webs and mothballs, and her pantsuit was more grey than black already. Come to think of it, she couldn´t even remember why she wore one. Ah, yes. She'd had to meet with her new employer.

"It didn't take that long!" disagreed Sirius while helping Harry put the very last Doxy into the sack. Therefore, he was bitten by it.

All of them were covered with little scrapes and dust, which certainly was not very good for fresh wounds.

"The hell it did!" she huffed and looked at her watch. "I arrived at around five o´clock and now it´s half past eight!"

Sirius didn´t need to think about his next exclamation.

"Dinner time!" Shocked, Alina faced Sirius.

"You can´t be serious!"

"I am Sirius!" he grinned. This time, she didn´t want to be defeated again. She would fight!

"No, Sirius! I can't stay here!"

"Why not? It´s already past dinner time, we're starving after hunting these little beasts and a nice meal would end the day on a good note."

"I've stayed already for three and a half hours! And you definitely have some leftovers from yesterday!" She turned her gaze to Harry. "Harry, as glad I am to see you again, I am not your mother. Your godfather is in charge of you and I am not in charge of you two." A heavy sight escaped her lips.

"I can´t believe I´m still in this doom loop..."

The last part was spoken more to herself. Everywhere she went, she had to be sucked into it again. At kindergarten, in preschool, in elementary school and in Hogwarts. She was this naïve girl who would do everything anyone asked her to do. It wasn't like it was a bad trait, but a lot of people had hurt her. And now...she didn´t want to be called 'mummy' again, or be thought of as a mother. Especially from Sirius...

"We're perfectly fine on our own! You just lend us a helping hand from time to time," appeased Sirius.

"Sirius, this is my first official visit to your house and you've already compelled me to do housework again. And now you want me to cook your meals for the third time!" Suddenly, Sirius had this mischievous smile on his face.

"Who said you were going to cook?"

Alina had to blink a few times before her brain could translate this. Sirius Black wanted to cook...THE Sirius Black, who wanted to feed his fifteen year old godson (the Boy-Who-Lived, by the way) spoiled biscuits only yesterday.

"I-I..." She just stammered. He had defeated her again and she couldn´t believe it!

Harry decided that it was time to save her from getting more embarrassed.

"Can we just eat? I don't even care who cooks!" His grumbling stomach agreed.

.

.

.

Alina still ended cooking a late dinner. She couldn't be the witness of this kitchen massacre:

First, Sirius tried to boil water and set the whole kitchen under water.

Alina had to clean it up.

Then he dropped the milk (why he needed milk for pasta stayed a mystery to her).

She cleaned it up.

After that, he burned the onions and garlic to black, crumbled…well, whatever they were.

She had to rip the pan out of his hands while he tried to put them into the pot of...not really sauce, not really water.

And when he tried to smash tomatoes with a hammer, she capitulated.

"Out of the way, Sirius!" She pushed him gently away from the stove, determined to save their dinner before he murdered it even more.

"Hey! I was in the middle of making the sauce!"

"No, you were punishing already dead vegetables!" She took the hammer out of his hand. "Now move, Sirius Black, or you will be the one ending up as sauce!"

She couldn´t refrain from smirking and caught herself thinking that he handled his inability of cooking and feeding his godson in quite a manly way. Her thoughts dwelled to Sirius while she sliced the tomatoes. Sirius was definitely handsome, even at his age. His black, wavy hair was almost touching his shoulders and his grey eyes were so...

Harry's laugher ripped her out of her thoughts. He and Sirius sat at the kitchen table, talking about Quidditch.

This was definitely out of hand. After the holidays, she would go back to Germany, to her family and her job. She wouldn't see him again. And since when did she fawn over looks? Her last boyfriend was described by her friends as dorky and kind of strange (he was an accountant). But he was smart and funny and...running straight back to his ex right after their first week together. The one before him left her for one of her friends (he was a lawyer) and the one before him left her because of a stipendium in Egypt. All of them were so smart, studied and intelligent…and dumped her.

And a guy like Sirius was out of her league. She didn't have a perfect figure, she laughed like a harpy and had never worn any make up, let alone a skirt. It was a matter of fact that he preferred such girls - she would bet her little finger on it.

But she just loved how he smiled at her with that mischievous twinkle in his eyes, when he defeated her again...

A sudden wave of pain through her hand let her snap out of it again. She just had cut herself with the kitchen knife and the blood flowed freely, nearly trickling on the tomatoes.

"Oh, shit!" she mumbled and she crossed to the sink and let the water wash the blood away.

Suddenly, something breathed at her neck -and she was sure that it wasn't Harry.

"That looks bad," Sirius said in a very serious voice. Alina couldn´t decide what was stranger: Sirius sounding serious or his concern.

"J-Just a small cut. It will heal in no time." She closed the water tap and tried to escape this closeness, but he showed no sign of letting her. Instead, he took her hand gently in his and eyed the wound suspiciously. Nervously, she tried to make eye contact with Harry so he could rescue her from this situation, only to notice he wasn't in the kitchen anymore.

"Really, I´ll just bandage it and smear some salve on it later."

"Come on! You're a witch, you should know that a healing potion would be better!"

"I don´t trust these healing potions! I once used one on a small cut - just to try - in my third year in Hogwarts and after that I had to write for two weeks with a gigantic hand!"

Sirius laughed.

"Oh man. You must have got one that James and I swapped with a Magnification Brew," he laughed. "I can´t believe Poppy didn't check them!"

"You-You swapped a healing potion just for fun?" Her mouth fell open.

"Yeah." He started to dab over her wound with a wet rag. "James, me and a bunch of other friends were famous for that back in school."

Alina groaned. Of course. That was so typical. Fancying a guy who was a total jerk. Way to go, Alina!

She tried to pull her hand out of his, but his grip tightened. Then he looked in her eyes, smiling warmly.

"What were you like?"

"W-Where?" It was hard to concentrate when he finally behaved like a (charming) adult.

"In Hogwarts, silly."

"Oh...er...well, I was kind of a loser..." She bit her lip. "Slytherins liked to use the Levicorpus charm on me or blow up all my books."

"They do that to almost all Hufflepuffs..."

"Well, it wasn´t the only reason. I was always the one fussing over other people and intruding in other people's business. When they bullied someone, I would immediately try to help the victim. And I tried to stop the younger ones from doing stupid things, like switching healing potion with Magnification Brews." She gave him a deprecating stare, which he ignored gallantly.

"Were you a prefect?"

"Yes. And it didn´t make me any more popular. Even the other prefects thought I was too strict..."

"I can understand them," Sirius laughed and he reached for a small vial with a strangely coloured liquid in it. "Were your friends pissed?"

She flinched as the potion touched her skin. "I didn't have what you would call friends at Hogwarts."

"What?" He nearly dropped the vial.

Alina laughed. "You should have see your face!"

"Are you kidding? I mean-"

"Sirius, calm down! I didn´t say I haven´t got any friends. My friends were just back in Germany and in Hogwarts, I would just help the younger ones fit in. My parents are not magical and we'd never had someone in the family who was either. So I preferred to be with normal people."

"You're Muggle-born?" His thumb started to circle over her now vanished wound. It felt nice, she had to admit.

"Yes. At first I didn´t want to leave my home and go to a country whose language I could barely speak. But my parents convinced me it would be best for me." Sirius was lost for words and Alina used this moment to pull her hand out of his.

"I learned a lot, got excellent grades and when I came back to Germany, I would go to summer school." She smiled shyly at him and finished chopping the tomatoes.

"You went to Hogwarts and to a Muggle school? That sounds impossible!" Sirius said, following her. Now they were standing shoulder to shoulder.

"It isn't. I graduated with good grades there too and studied at university."

Although Sirius didn´t know what this 'university' was, it sounded difficult to attend.

"And what do you do now?" he asked, watching her as she gently roasted the garlic.

"I'm a teacher at a school in Germany and in the holidays, I give German classes here in Britain."

She poured the pasta into the boiling water. Why was he so curious? Feeling insecure, she shifted away from him.

"A Muggle school?" She could feel his gaze burning in her cheek. _No wonder, they must be bright red by now! _Alina thought.

"Yes. Teaching was always my thing."

"Teach me!"

Alina nearly dropped her spoon. "What?"

„Cooking, of course!" His smile was drop-dead gorgeous but she managed to resist.

"Tomorrow is Wednesday and I have to work the whole week -"

"Pretty please!" Sirius almost pouted.

"I could drop by for dinner on Friday..." Well, she tried…

**.**

**.**

**.**

…**...**

**WOW, that was a long chapter...**

**At first it was divided into two, but i thought like this it sounds better (and I couldn´t find a title for the first part ;)**

**Thanks to my lovely beta ****darkangelevanescent** **and ofcourse everyone who follows this story!**

**THANK YOU FOR READING^^**


	6. First Impression

…

**First impression**

…

.

The next day came too quickly for Alina's liking. After she had come home (too late), she still needed to correct some exams and she was sure she miscalculated a lot. But aside from being late for work, misgrading an exam and spluttering her soup all over the table, she had to admit: she was excited to see Sirius again. And it made her unhappy, along with embarrassed. Kind of. Alina couldn´t remember when she last dressed herself up for a man, so it made her nervous as she stood in front of her wardrobe and noticed that she just packed clothes for work into her suitcase.

So it was convenient that right in that moment, an owl tapped on her window with a letter from Dumbledore about an Order meeting at 8 pm on that same day. She didn´t have to choose - it was necessary to look respectable at her first Order meeting, not pretty. And she was glad not to have to concern herself with such a trivial thing anymore.

Before she even set her foot into the house, she heard a loud ruckus from inside, a ruckus even louder than the Doxy hunt. Alina wasn´t sure if somebody would notice her but she still rang the doorbell.

It took a while for somebody to open it...and point a wand at her throat.

"Who are you?" the women almost shouted. She had fire red hair and was just some inches smaller than Alina.

"I-I-I am...I mean -" Alina was too surprised to form a sentence - maybe too afraid to speak up against a woman who looking quite dangerous.

"Answer me!" the woman shrieked. "Or I´ll hex you!"

"Ally! You're here!" It was Harry, who just stepped down from the stairs. Behind him stood a boy with the same hair as this woman.

"H-Harry! Thank God!" she exclaimed, but was interrupted by the woman.

"Harry, dear, stay back!"

"Pl-Please. I can explain!"

"Mrs Weasley, she´s our friend," Harry tried to convince her. "That´s Ally." The boy behind Harry looked at him with a questioning look. "She was the one who picked me up from the Dursleys," he explained and the red haired boy nodded.

Mrs Weasley didn´t lower her wand. "How do you know it´s her? She could be a Death Eater using -"

"Now, now, Molly!" Sirius appeared out of nowhere behind her. "I'm sure that this is Ally. Nobody but her would raise her arms when a witch threatens her with a wand." His smile nearly left her crying in relief. Honestly, it wasn´t the wand that scared her. It was that woman!

"We have to be sure!" Mrs Weasley insisted.

"Alright, alright," Sirius sighed while running his fingers through his hair. "A safety question...Harry, what'll we ask her?"

Harry thought for a moment. "What about what we had for dinner two days ago?"

"Good idea! But what did we have for dinner that day?"

"I just remember it tasted good..." mumbled Harry sheepishly. Their brainstorming was interrupted by Alina.

"You can´t be serious!" she scolded them. "I took care of you for two freaking days and all you can remember is that my cooking is good? Why don´t you ask me what I said when I first entered your house, or what I did so that your stupid mother isn´t on your wall anymore, or- my goodness! You can´t be serious!" Her voice cracked.

"Yep, that´s definitely Ally," said Sirius, trying not to laugh. Harry just nodded. Mrs Weasley still didn't seem to be convinced.

"I still don´t trust her!"

"Okay!" Harry exclaimed. "What did you give me when you first came to the Dursleys?"

"Really, of all the questions you could have asked me, you chose this?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Answer it!" bellowed Mrs Weasley.

"Ch-Chocolate Frogs. I gave you Chocolate Frogs!" Alina almost cried.

Mrs Weasley looked at Harry and he nodded, so she let her wand sink and smiled. "Welcome!"

.

.

.

Alina was quickly introduced to the whole Weasley family: the twins, Fred and George (who reminded her strangely of Sirius), Ron (Harry´s best friend since zero hours), their little sister Ginevra (who preferred to be called Ginny) and Mrs Weasley's husband, Mr Weasley (Sirius mentioned to him that she was Muggle-born so she was questioned about car engines and automatic fire alarms).

After the children quickly escaped out of the kitchen again, Alina laughed and turned to Sirius.

"I think our cooking lesson has to be cancelled." Right there on the stove stood three steaming pots.

Sirius looked puzzled. "Cooking lesson? Oh, right. I guess you're right." He didn´t seem to be disappointed - it even seemed to her that he'd forgotten about it completely.

"You wanted to teach Sirius cooking?" Mrs Weasley looked as surprised as her husband.

"Well, it was actually his idea," she admitted shyly and sat down at the kitchen table, no longer afraid that Mrs Weasley would tear out her throat. Said woman's chin almost touched the table.

"Sirius Black and cooking in one sentence is impossible," she finally said.

"Molly! I have a lot of talents, you know!" he laughed and sat down next to Alina after getting himself a bottle of Butterbeer.

"But cooking is certainly not one of them!" Alina chuckled to him.

"I am deeply hurt, Ally. Out of everyone, I never thought you would betray me." Theatrically, Sirius laid his hand over his heart. Alina responded by rolling her eyes.

"And you call yourself an adult..." Before they could continue their bickering, Molly interrupted them.

"You sound like an old married couple!" she laughed.

Sirius choked and spat out his Butterbeer, while Alina´s head turned hastily back to the Weasleys.

"And now look at you. Suddenly so shy! Arthur, do you remember..."

And so she told them how they met, went out, got married and their first child. Alina was sure she had a lot more to tell but luckily for them, the potatoes were well cooked.

When called for dinner, it sounded like a herd of panicked bulls were running down the stairs instead of five children.

After Molly scolded one of the twins for stealing a piece of ham, she insisted that everyone had to settle down before they eat. But right in the moment, when she wanted to say two magic words, a loud CRACK echoed from the hall. In shock, Alina almost knocked her glass over.

"Are you expecting someone?" she asked Sirius. But he couldn´t answer because the door to the hall flew wide open, revealing a rather short man with a false eye and wooden leg. Behind him stood a woman whose face Alina couldn´t see.

"Alastor, you nearly made my heart stop!" Molly exclaimed, while Arthur stood up to welcome him with a handshake.

Alastor..._This must be Alastor Moody,_ Alina thought. Even in Germany they knew (and feared) that name.

Suddenly, someone screamed loudly, which was quickly followed by something wooden hitting the floor. Alina wanted to help but Sirius held her back by laying his hand on her forearm. She flinched - it felt nice.

"Don't worry, she just tripped again," he said. Everyone at the table nodded.

"Who?" Before anyone could answer, a young woman with bubblegum pink hair stepped into the kitchen.

"Dora?" Alina jumped up and knocked her (luckily) empty glass over. Surprised, everyone stared at her. Did she know Tonks?

"Mummy?"

Now they were looking at Tonks in shock. Immediately, Alina walked over to her.

"My, how you've grown, Dora! You're taller than me now!" She laid her hands on Tonks' shoulders. "I can´t believe you still wear your hair like that!" Alina tugged at Tonks' pink hair like it was a worm.

They chuckled. "And you still don´t let your hair down. You look so _old_!"

"What are you doing here?"

"No, what are _you_ doing here?"

"Stop behaving like a five year old, Tonks! It embarrasses me!" barked Moody and let himself fall into a chair Molly put between Arthur's and Sirius´.

"Don´t be mopy dopy. I haven´t seen Mummy since she graduated!"

The twins laughed about something, while the other had questioning looks on their faces.

"Come on, Tonks, sit down. You must be starving!" sang Molly and guided her to the last free chair.

Regardless of Moody´s warning, Tonks continued blabbering. "Everyone was so lost after you graduated! You know, Miller and Serene needed to repeat their fifth year. They were so hopeless: failed Potions, Divination AND Charms. Can you believe it? And can you remember that Slytherin that broke your rib? He was expelled for colouring Professor Downer's whole classroom pink with blue sprinkles!"

Alina laughed and Harry used the moment Tonks needed to breathe to speak up.

"How do you know Tonks?"

"Yeah and why does she call you Mummy?" asked the twins in unison.

"I have to admit, I´m quite anxious to know." Arthur scratched the back of his head. Everyone except Moody was curious.

"So tell us, Ally! How do you know my little baby cousin?" Sirius grinned at her. This woman never ceased to surprise him!

"I helped her when she tripped on the stairs in Hogwarts!" Tonks chirped, apparently glad not to be the only clumsy one in this room. Alina just blushed at the memory. "She was walking up some steps in front of me but she stepped into one of the gaps and fell!"

Sirius burst out laughing and was quickly followed by the children.

"Oh, stop it boys!" Molly shouted. "Can´t you see that you're making her uncomfortable?" That just made Alina blush more.

"Oh, and one time..."

Throughout dinner, Tonks told them about nearly everything embarrassing that happened to Alina at Hogwarts. Her propensity to fall over anything and everything while reading all sorts of books, how she scolded Hufflepuffs (especially Tonks) after getting detention again and the times she tried to escape Madam Pomfrey´s iron grip when she had a heavy cold.

By the end of dinner, even Moody was in a good mood. Alina got used to the constant blushing and sometimes laughed with them. But she was glad as Tonks struggled to remember any stories and the twins excused themselves (with a mischievous glint in their eyes), soon followed by Ron, Harry and Ginny.

And so the more serious part of the evening began.

**.**

**.**

**.**

…**...**

**Well...I don´t have anything to say...maybe at the end of the next chapter.**

**Thanks to my lovely betadarkangelevanescentand of course everyone who follows this story!**

**THANK YOU FOR READING^^**


	7. First revelation

…

**First revelation  
**

…

When the adults were finally among themselves, the mood swung.

"So, Albus brought someone new into the Order..." murmured Moody and fixed Alina with his icy glare. "Can´t believe he didn't tell us…"

"He told me, Alastor!" declared Sirius. "I trust her. And Harry does too!"

"How long have you known her? She could have been a Death Eater from the beginning!"

"She is not a Death Eater! Didn´t you hear Tonks' stories? It would be absurd! Besides, she is a Muggle-born!"

"The Potters trusted Pettigrew, a Gryffindor! And where are they now?" barked Moody.

Sirius smacked his fist on the table angrily and the dishes vibrated.

"How dare you -" He wanted to grab his wand, but Alina pushed him down.

"Sirius stop!" she shouted at him. "It´s not worth it!"

"But -"

"No buts!" Her face was red with anger. "And Mr Moody is right - you shouldn´t trust me so blindly. I´m glad that you trust me so soon, but I´m still a stranger to you. We've know each other for only five days, not years."

She exhaled loudly and sat back down. Immediately her face grew regretful. "I-I am sorry. I've gone too far. Maybe I should go to the next room and wait until the Order meeting begins."

"No!" said Tonks, pouting, and Molly laid her hand on Alina's shoulder.

"Alastor is just grumpy that Dumbledore didn't inform him. He didn´t mean to offend you."

The last sentence was more spoken to Moody than to Alina. Sirius just stared at the table - she wasn´t even sure if he was breathing properly. Moody still stared at her like she was a Death Eater and Arthur was too shy to say a word. It didn't seem right to her, so she stood up and left the room.

.

.

.

A little lost, she just stood for a moment in the hall and wished she hadn´t agreed to come here for Sirius' cooking lesson. Her first mistake was to stay and cook dinner for them, then to come again and again. She wandered to the room with Sirius' huge family tree on the wall.

Three faces were burned out of it and one of them was Sirius'. Right on the first day, she'd itched to ask him but she felt in her gut that it was too soon. He was hurt, and deeply - not exactly physically, but mentally. And it worried her sick. For the last few nights, she could only think of his deep, sorrow-filled eyes before falling asleep.

She wanted to help him so badly, but knew it wasn´t appropriate. Even if she fancied him just an itsy bitsy bit, it was not in her plan.

She crossed her arms and stared at the family tree. From the very first moment she entered this house, Alina had the feeling that the Black family was shattered. And now, after hearing Moody talking about the Potters' death circumstances, Sirius seemed so lonely to her.

Suddenly, the door the kitchen was closed very loudly and somebody was walking down the hall at a fast pace.

"Ally?" It was Sirius, sounding quite uneasy.

"I'm here!" she called back.

"Thank Merlin, I was afraid you went home." He entered the room and after closing the door behind him, he stepped up to her. "I'm sorry, I -"

"No, Sirius, it's okay." Alina wasn´t brave enough to look him into the eyes, afraid that she'd start crying.

"No, it is not okay! Alastor was just huffy that Dumbledore didn't tell him about you." He sounded very confident.

"I shouldn't have come here...so early, I mean, I shouldn't have come so early." Sirius was too surprised to say something.

"I was intruding in yours and Harry's lives and I want to apologise for that. And I -"

"No! No, Ally, no!" He stepped between her and the family tree, trying to look into her eyes. But Alina switched her gaze to the ground.

"Please don't say something like that! If you hadn't come to us, we would have been totally lost! You helped us a lot."

"I didn't...", she whispered. "I just cooked a few meals…"

"But you were there, Ally. There for us. So many people betrayed Harry and me, even those we knew for many years!" _He's talking about Pettigrew,_ she thought darkly. Betrayed by a good friend and losing one of his best friends in just one night. It made her heart ache.

"Look at Mrs Weasley, she could have done the same thing!" Alina insisted and chanced a look up for a second. Sirius looked desperate.

"Molly and Arthur have known us for a long time, Ally. Harry's like a son to them. But you knew Harry just for a couple of hours and just came to us. You were so honest and caring - even if you are a stranger to us, you behaved like it's absolutely natural!"

She finally looked him in the eye, but not self-unconsciously; her gaze was firm and confident.

"That´s because it is! This is what I'm like! Helping total strangers! It wasn´t because I felt sorry for Harry or for you - it was because someone needed direction. Don´t you get it? I would save a Death Eater, just so he can live!"

For a moment, Sirius just stared at her and Alina used this to state her next sentence.

"When this meeting is over, I won´t come here again."

With a loud CRACK, somebody Apparated into the room. It happened so suddenly that Alina shrieked, startled, and stumbled into Sirius' arms. Of course, being a complete gentleman, he wrapped his arms protectively around her, pointing his wand at the figure, before realising too late that it was none other than Albus Dumbledore.

"I am indeed surprised, Sirius. I thought that you would be with Harry, not with dear Alina."

His eyes twinkled in amusement, almost laughing at his own joke. But he couldn´t enjoy his joke any longer because the door creaked open, revealing the other Order members with raised wands. From upstairs, they could hear the children's loud voices.

"Merlin's beard, we could hear a horrible noise coming from here, Ally! What's wrong?" said Molly breathlessly when she spotted Dumbledore.

Before anyone could channel their attention onto Sirius embracing Alina, she freed herself hastily with glowing red cheeks. And instead of answering Molly, she decided to greet her former headmaster properly.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore."

"Now, now, Alina. We have talked about this a dozen times. Call me Albus." He took her hand gently and shook it. "I hope Sirius has not been bothering you?"

"No. He was a good boy," Alina laughed as nothing had happened between her and Sirius. Inwardly, she thanked God that she had chosen one of the holiday actor classes when she attended university.

.

.

.

When everyone had settled down at the kitchen table and a Silencing Charm was put over the door, Dumbledore spoke up again.

"Remus, Kingsley and Severus are tied up with some delicate matters, so we will start the meeting without them. Firstly, I want to officially introduce you to Alina." Everyone shot her a short glance. "As one of Hogwarts' most honoured students, I asked her to join the Order and she agreed to lend us a hand. You have to understand that almost all of the German wizards were killed by Voldemort during the First Wizarding War and only a few are still alive. But the wizarding community is so close that it is easy to gain information from them. So thanks to you, Alina, we will soon be better informed of Voldemort's movements on the continent."

Dumbledore nodded and gave her a signal that she could speak.

"Thank you, Professor. It won´t be possible for me to attend every meeting but I will try my best - I teach at a school where non magic and wizard children are co-educated without the Muggles knowing that somebody there is a wizard or a witch. I'm close to a lot of old and new wizard families and unfortunately the number of Dark witches and wizards is increasing dramatically. They only send their children to us to maintain their appearances.

"I am sure one of these schools will be attacked in the near future and after them, they will try one of the larger ones, maybe even Durmstrang.

"But one family was so noticeable, I had to investigate it and I must inform you that Dementors are breeding in the alps. Five hikers were found this summer, four dead and one babbling about a priest touching him, which was most likely the most horrible memory he had. I tried to locate the nests but only found a very small one, maybe twenty new breeds."

Alina glanced at her watch.

"Any questions?" she asked out of habit. When nobody said anything, she stood up. "Then I wish you a good night."

"You're leaving?" Tonks almost shouted in disbelief, and Sirius didn't seem very happy as well. "But -"

Dumbledore raised his hand and until Alina had left the room, nobody spoke a word.

"I think I have to explain this," he said.

_The hell he does_, everyone thought. Well, maybe not exactly everything, but a minimum at least.

"When I asked Alina to join the Order two years ago, she agreed but only under one condition. She wanted to know as little as possible about the Order's members and their actions. At that time, she just had started her career as a teacher and had left the wizarding society almost completely. The last thing she wanted to do was to put her pupils in danger. If one of her pupils were tortured in front of her eyes, she would not hesitate to tell the torturers everything she knows, even if the chances of their survival are nonexistant."

"She could still spill the location of the headquarters!" barked Moody and stomped his staff on the wooden floor.

"I am glad to say that this case is not possible, Alastor. She charmed her tongue so that if she is about to say the words Grimmauld Place or wants to write them, the body part in question will immediately necrotize. I proved the charm myself and I was present when she spoke it."

.

.

.

Alina was about to turn the doorhandle when Harry came running down the stairs.

"You're leaving?" From upstairs, Ron was looking rather puzzled at his best friend. She was absolutely sure that the children had spied on them.

"It's already half past ten and I need to pack my things."

"You're going back to Germany?" Harry's eyes widened.

"Yes. School starts in Germany in no less than two weeks and to be honest, I really need a vacation from all of the brats!" She laughed while Harry just smiled bitterly.

"But you'll come back, right?"

With an apologetic look, she sighed. "Only for a short time each month. You will be at Hogwarts and in the Christmas holidays, I won´t be here either."

"I know this sounds stupid but I think that Sirius will really miss you..."

"He´ll survive. He did it in Azkaban for twelve years, so he will bear this little thing." She smiled and turned back to the door. "Don't do anything stupid this year, Harry. I don´t want to look into the newspaper and see yours or Sirius' face again on the front page."

"I´ll try my best," Harry grinned. Alina laughed, stepped outside and with a loud CRACK, she Disapparated.


	8. First thinking

…

**First Thinking**

…

When Sirius had escorted Harry to King's Cross, he knew he would be all alone, here in his doomed house. It wouldn´t be as bad without his mother but at least with her, he would have had some company. Remus would visit from time to time, if he wasn´t busy with a mission given by Dumbledore (mostly involving werewolves) and sometimes Tonks would accompany him.

Molly sent him food every week, while Arthur tried to keep him updated about the ministry´s actions until the Order meetings would start.

The Order meetings. Sirius shuddered of the memory of the first one after Ally started to ignore him. She would come in at the very moment the meeting started and leave shortly after her report.

He never had the chance to talk to her in private, only asking questions during the meeting. Not only that but once, her gaze had met his and every time he tried to made eye contact with her, she would turn away.

_We've known each other for five days, not years...Helping total strangers. It wasn´t because I felt sorry for Harry or for you - it was because someone needed direction. Don´t you get it? I would save a Death Eater, just so he can live...When this meeting is over, I won´t come here again..._

Those words frustrated him, like he didn't mean anything to her. He was just about to get himself a glass of Firewhiskey, when someone Apparated into the hall. And, judging by the noise and the cry, it was Tonks, demolishing his house again.

After Sirius rescued her from this 'totally horrible' (as Ally would say) umbrella stand, they sat in the kitchen drinking Firewhisky - well Sirius did. Tonks preferred a simple Butterbeer.

"So, how's it going?" he asked, more driven by courtesy than curiosity.

"Okay, Moody is so tough that sometimes I wanna puke right into the ministers shoes! What about you?"

Sirius snorted. "The only thing I have to do is to feed Buckbeak from time to time...I'm a prisoner in my own house."

"I´m sorry..."

"It's not your fault," he said bitterly and drank the whole glass of Firewhisky in one gulp.

"But a lot of Order members could visit you more often. I just remember, when we were bored back in Hogwarts, Ally would bring up one of these German Muggle games. She said it was to prevent us from doing something stupid."

Tonks changed her hair colour to a shade of dark brown, her skin darkened faintly and after the blink of an eye, she looked exactly like Ally might have in her teenage years. Sirius held his breath. With her hair down and without that serious expression, Ally looked really cute. He had to remind himself that this wasn't Ally, it was his little cousin.

"Bored people do outer space stupid things!" Tonks imitated, in an excellent impression of Ally. She then changed back to her 'normal" self'. "I still don´t know what that means exactly but the games were quite cool...well, until some Slytherins burned them and scattered the ashes all over the school grounds."

"Were you close with Ally?" Sirius asked, sipping another glass of Firewhisky.

"Well, she was in her fifth year or so when I entered Hogwarts but she would always help me with my Herbology essays or Astronomy homework...Oh and she was brilliant at Charms! She could charm her shoes so that she wouldn't stumble over stones if she was reading while walking!"

Charming her shoes? Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"And sometimes she walked with us to Hogsmeade or to the lake. And if she was in a good mood, she would read our future!"

"She´s a Seer?" _Not only a charms master, but a seer too?_

"Not that I know of...but she did take her OWLS and NEWTs in that subject and I think she passed both times with an O..."

"She took Divination?" Nobody took Divination! Only fools...and Hufflepuffs - mostly they were both.

"Yeah and Astronomy, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic, Charms...and I think Transfiguration too..." Tonks began chewing her lip.

"That is a strange timetable..." Sirius stated while balancing his glass on its edge.

"Everyone thought that too, but Mum - I mean Ally, never cared. She never did. Even when a rumour started that she was a quarter harpy..."

"Harpy? How did they get that idea?"

"She had a bad temper, especially when some pupils thought it would be funny to hex everyone they passed on their way to class...And when it was the last straw, she got so furious that even Professor McGonagall was a little afraid of her in that state..."

Sirius chuckled. In a way, he could picture her with her angrily reddened face, her hair flowing in the air and her scolding the perpetrators so loud that everyone would try to hide. Even he would be afraid and that was saying something.

"Anyway, she handled it like it was nothing," Tonks sighed. "I was rather sad, when she graduated. But a lot of the boys and some girls used their new freedom to demolish almost our entire dorm." Tonks giggled. „They got two weeks of detention and had to clean the whole dorm. I listened to Ally´s last advice: _Don´t get caught doing something stupid._"

.

.

.

While Alina packed her materials into her briefcase as her pupils left the room, she thought about - who would have thought – Sirius Black. She wondered if he was alright, if he was eating properly (respectively Molly cooked for him) and hopefully wasn't too bored. She always thought that only bored people would do something VERY stupid. And in Sirius' case, it could have serious consequences.

There was no way to deny it: she was worried sick about him and not having any contact with him made her crazy. But it was the best way to protect him, the other Order members and her pupils. She wasn´t an 'oh so brave Gryffindor', she was a Hufflepuff: loyal and honest.

It was like somebody different was moving her body until she finally reached her flat. It was small and only had one room and a tiny bath. But it was enough for her. Before her time with the Order, she would spent the weekends with her brother at the countryside. He and his wife were living in a house not six miles away and it was big. Space wasn't a problem.

Now she spend her weekends between the Alps, Ural mountains, woods, teacher work and panicking parents, who would call her before ten o'clock on a Sunday morning to ask her if their children passed the year (even if it only began two months ago).

She almost fell asleep when something tapped at her window. It was a snowy owl, carrying a letter in its beak and looking quite desperate.

Exhausted, she dropped her briefcase on the sofa and opened the window. The owl hopped onto the sill, hooted softly and dropped the letter.

Her name was scribbled by a hand unknown to her. What wizard would write to her? Dumbledore preferred to just Apparate in her flat whenever he felt like it. He was the only wizard she had constant contact with. A small part of her hoped that it was Sirius who wrote to her but she knew that he couldn't allow an owl to be seen near his house.

So when she opened the letter, she was surprised to read Harry´s name on the bottom of the page.

_Hello Ally,_

_I just wanted to ask if you are alright and stuff. You might read in the Prophet, that we have a new DADA Professor, Umbridge. Nobody can stand her (well except of Filch...but he doesn't count). We're forbidden to perform any sort of magic in woman is mad! Even Hermione doesn't pay attention in class and she´s a straight O student._

_Dumbledore's ignoring us when we want to approach him, maybe you could talk with him about this boiler of a women._

_Hagrid is on something like an extended holiday, Dumbledore said. I don´t know if we can believe that..._

_It's getting quite cold here - I hope you have better weather in Germany!_

_Harry_

_PS: Do you know something about Thestrals?_

Alina furrowed her eyebrows. Umbridge...wasn't she one of the British Minister Fudge's silly clots? It gave her a bad feeling and she knew that Harry didn't tell her everything that was actually happening there at Hogwarts. The owl on her sill hooted impatiently.

"You must be hungry..." murmured Alina and went to the fridge to fetch the owl some chicken meat.

While she chopped it into small stripes, she thought about the situation at Hogwarts.

The British Ministry of Magic wanted to keep an eye on Dumbledore. After what happened at the Triwizard Tournament, they tried to mark him and Harry as liars. The German paper 'Der Rufer', equal to the 'Daily Prophet', reported about it. It gave huge criticism at this move but 'Der Rufer' wasn't brave enough to encourage the headline '_Voldemort is back_!'

When she had fed the owl, it didn't fly back to where it had come from. Instead, it settled down on her sofa and closed its eyes. Alina used the time to write her reply to Harry.

_Hello Harry,_

_Yes, I'm quite fine, except for the typical problems of a teacher._

_I hope you don´t get too bored in DADA, you could get careless. I have the feeling that this Umbridge isn't a soft-hearted person. Make sure that she doesn´t catch you or one of your friends doing inappropriate things, like founding your own DADA class (like you would do something dangerous like that!)._

_Be patient with Dumbledore, you know he always behaves a little...strange._

_The thing with the Thestrals - I'm not really sure, but I might have learned about them at Hogwarts. I'm pretty sure that they were invisible horse-like creatures with wings and you only can see/sense them if you have experienced some kind of death situation. There was a rumour once that they were actually pulling the carriages to Hogwarts but I'm not sure about that._

_Take care of yourself - something is happening in the Ministry and Umbridge seems to play a huge role in it. If something strange occurs, even if it doesn't seem so important at first, tell you godfather, he will know what to do._

_Alina_

_PS: This letter is charmed, so only you can read it. But I would advise you to burn it after you did._ _Just to make sure._

…_**...**_

**We'll see if Harry took her advice next chapter (laugh, laugh...and a lot more laughs)**

**Thank you again for reading and all the ones who are already following this story. I never thought even one person would look at this!**

**Thank you for all the comments! I am really grateful for it.**

**And of course my biggest thanks go to my beta, darkangelevanesecent!**

**´Til next chapter ^^**


	9. First tears

…

**First Tears**

…

Harry didn´t follow her advice, of course, and founded the DA shortly after writing to her. He didn't write to her again and Alina was glad, thinking that he wouldn't have to face more problems. Sirius, on the other hand, was so proud of his godson, that he thought about visiting him in Hogsmeade, just to congratulate him for stepping into his and James' shoes. This feeling was only beaten by the time Harry said that he wanted to join the Order.

But Dumbledore had a close eye on him and he could not risk the Order being discovered - it was bad enough that the Malfoy boy recognized him at King's Cross. The Death Eaters were on the move and Voldemort was growing stronger and stronger every day. The Ministry was deaf to anyone who threatened their comfortable little world and the Daily Prophet was its puppet.

All over the world, Death Eaters were roaming but Sirius had to sit like a naughty child in his house, not able to do anything. He was sinking into a vortex of boredom and monotony.

Remus visited as much as he could but those times got fewer and fewer. Tonks was too busy with her Auror training and Kingsley just came by to bring him the Daily Prophet.

The only things he looked forward to were the conversations with Harry through the fireplace and the Order meetings, even if he had to bear Snivellus' tantrums.

The Order meeting at the beginning of November, sadly, wasn´t exactly a shade lighter. It started like it usually did: Dumbledore welcomed them, said something cryptic and then they would give their reports in the same order.

But this time, the one who always started was absent. Dumbledore didn't show any signs of worry but his eyes showed a glint of it for a short moment, although he continued the meeting without any interruption. And when it had ended, Dumbledore was, unusually, the last to leave.

Now that Sirius thought about it, Ally was never late, let alone absent. She would arrive right at the moment the meeting would start and Disapparate shortly after reporting.

He got worried. What if something happened to her? Maybe Death Eaters had captured her! Just the thought of some Death Eaters torturing her made him grit his teeth angrily. Before his thoughts could go any further, a loud CRACK from the hall made him jump.

Out of reflex, he grabbed his wand and pointed it at the door, which was thrown open. But he let it sink after he recognized the person. It was no other than Ally, soaked from head to toe, blurting out loudly and hysterically: "I'm so sorry, I know I'm too late. Some erklings followed me all over the Pyrenees! They got my wand and I had -" She blinked and stopped rambling. Sirius grinned. He just couldn´t resist. "The-the meeting..." she stuttered.

"It's over," Sirius said, trying to hold up his serious mask.

"Oh..." She paused, looking quite embarrassed. Her gaze lingered on him and after blushing, to the floor. "Then I guess I should go..." She turned around, ready to leave again. He couldn't let it end like this! This was the first conversation between them since the end of summer! He didn´t hesitate and grabbed her hand. Shocked, her round eyes stared at him, maybe shining with even a hint of fear.

"Don´t go," he said, breathing hard, his heart pounding heavily against his ribs. It almost hurt. But he kept holding her, like she would disappear if he didn't. And he had the feeling he would too if he did let go.

She tried to form words, but her lips just moved, staying soundless.

"Please." The grip on her hand loosened and grew gentler.

"I...I have to change...or I'll catch a cold," she stammered. Sirius had to admit, Ally really felt icy cold. Her slim lips seemed almost blue and her face was pale.

"You could warm up here," he suggested hastily. "I'm sure Molly left some of her clothes here and the kettle is still on the fire. You could have a cup of tea."

To hide her smile, Ally pressed her lips together. "I hate tea."

Sirius laughed. "What about coffee?"

"And I hate coffee too..." They just smiled at each other, Sirius with wide, blinking eyes and Ally shyly like a schoolgirl. Then she suddenly snapped out of it. She pulled her hand out of his and stepped back.

"I have to go."

"Ally -"

"Sirius, I can't!" she pleaded, rubbing the hand he had just held.

„Why are you doing this?" _To me_. His heart felt suddenly very heavy.

"Why? You want to know why?"

"Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't have been asking!"

"Because of the others' safety!"

"The others' safety? You should think about yours! You have no contact with any member of the Order if it isn't at a meeting. What if you're tracked down by Death Eaters?"

"That´s the point, Sirius! That´s the point! Sooner or later I will be caught, no matter how many wizards I call for - they wouldn't be fast enough I'm not the best duellist and I'm not able to withstand the Cruciatus curse! I would tell them nearly everything! And if they took somebody hostage - I would betray _you_." There were tears in her eyes, almost rolling down her freckled cheeks.

"You wouldn't!"

"You don´t know me! I would do it!"

"No! No! You wouldn't! I know you! You're honest and caring! You couldn´t even hurt a fly! You always play with a bit of your hair when you think about something for too long and-and you -" He stopped. That was everything. Nothing more sprang to mind. No more traits, no fears, no flaws.

"You see?" she whispered. "You don't know me. We only spent a few hours together and you already argue against it. We are total strangers. You. Do. Not. Know. Me."

When she tried to take a breath, Sirius crushed his lips to hers. He didn't know why he did it. No, he knew exactly why: to stop her from talking. To warm her. To satisfy this feeling in his gut. To show her that he knew her somehow, deep inside him.

At first, it didn't feel like an actual kiss. Ally was stiff and didn´t even wince, when he wrapped his arm around her. But after a while, she started to kiss him back and tugged shyly at Sirius' blazer. Just as he wanted to deepen the kiss, she pushed him away and stumbled backwards.

"What - you-..." Then she babbled something in German, raised her wand and with a loud CRACK, she Disapparated.

It took a few moments for Sirius to fully realise what he'd done...He had kissed Ally...and she wouldn't talk to him ever again. Desperate, he let himself fall on one of the kitchen stools, alone again in his dark house.

…_**...**_

**Well, I never intended to let the first kiss happen so fast, but don´t get your hopes up. The next will take a little longer ;) My characters always have their own mind,**

**I hope you liked this chapter, because I don't (somehow). But it was necessary to give the story some speed (I think only I can understand this speed thing...).**

**Thank you for all the comments! I am really grateful for it.**

**And of course my biggest thanks go to my beta, darkangelevanescent!**

'**Til next chapter ^^**


	10. First Visit

…

**First Visit**

…

When Alina got home, she nearly collapsed onto her doormat. She was so tired and exhausted that she almost crawled into bed, stepping on nearly anything that lay on the floor.

Since she worked for the Order, she rarely had time and a yen for cleaning and tidying her room, so anything and everything was just dropped mercilessly onto the ground. But now, she didn´t want to think about anything. Just sleeping and hoping everything that happened was a dream, a nightmare. Sirius had kissed her...and like the idiot she was, she had kissed him back. Desperate she screamed into her pillow.

She, who openly declared not to get attached and form bonds with any Order member, kissed Sirius Black. What would she had told her parents if they were still alive? '_Hey, that´s Sirius Black! Ex-convict and member of a secret Order, which tries to defeat a psycho wizard killer! And by the way – he hast the custody over his fifteen year old godson, who he can´t even feed!'_ Yes, that would definitely be a _strange_conversation. But they were dead. Six feet under.

But for a very short moment she regretted 'running' away from Sirius. She liked him. More than was good. But it was not a lie; she would tell them everything. Since she was a child, she was a whiner and always cried, even when it was just a little scratch. And when somebody innocent was involved, it doubled her pain. So she was sure, if a Death Eater used the Cruciatus curse on her, she would tell them anything they want.

Alina had just stripped off her soaked coat when somebody hammered against her door. First, she didn't want to open it, just because. But she decided that, if it was more bad news, it should be today, not tomorrow. It couldn't get worse though as she opened the door, she regretted doing it. It was pure luck that it was already dark and that it rained cats and dogs, so nobody saw him.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed, gazing around at the streets and windows. Nobody was watching them, so she did not hesitate to pull him into her flat and close the door, just in case. "How can you be so reckless? What if somebody had seen you?"

Sirius did not seem to feel guilty - only wet.

"Imagine, if a Death Eater was around? You could be dead! What about Harry? He would have to go back to these Dursleys!"

Still Sirius did not say a word, preferring to stare at her.

"Say something!"

Nothing.

"Why are you here?"

Nothing.

"Sirius? Are you alright?" Worried, she stepped up to him. "Did something happen to Harry?"

Again nothing. "Sirius. You. Are. Making. Me. Worry."

Suddenly, he moved closer. "You lied…" he said calmly.

"What?" Confused, she looked up at him. She really wished she had worn her heels, so she could look at him face to face (though they only would have lifted her to his nose). But it was rather inconvenient to wear them in the mountains.

"You lied. You said you would tell them!" A small puddle of water was forming under his frame.

Alina sighed and hoped her heart would stop pounding so loudly. It made her feel dizzy.

"I would. I said it often enough."

"Liar. You wouldn't. They could have caught you in the mountains and blackmailed you to spy and kill! Nobody knows I'm here. You could kill me in Voldemort's name, but you don't!" he smiled brightly.

"Do you hear your own words? That´s ridiculous - I said, that I would tell them, if they cursed or torture me. I would rather kill myself than spy on the Order." _And on you_, she added silently.

"But you wouldn't. You're too kind to do something like that!" He stared at her so intensely and gently that it made her crazy.

"K-Kindness is-is not - I mean it doesn´t matter if I'm kind or not. I can't handle pain well and-and if someone is hurt before my eyes -" All of a sudden, she burst into tears. Her whole body was shaking and her legs turned to jelly as the next moment, she felt so fragile.

"I-I…" Alina couldn't find any English words, so she kept crying. Protectively, Sirius wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head. And she didn't care. Not now.

"It's alright, Ally," he murmured.

"No...no, it's not!" she sobbed. "I don't want t-to spy for the Order...I-I hate it..."

Sirius felt her nails pierce through his shirt into his skin.

"If this goes on, I'll have to erase the memories of most of my friends…they will think I never existed…and my brother…he-he has a son, Justin…and a wife…I can´t bear it if – if -" And she cried harder, constantly choking on her tears.

Gently, he stroked her wet, ruffled hair. It felt so good. In any other situation (with no wizarding wars and Death Eaters), she would have enjoyed this moment. But now, she just felt like crying and sobbing and feeling like crap. She knew she had to stop because she would feel humiliated afterwards - showing weaknesses was never easy for her and crying in front of people made her uncomfortable, so she tried to calm down.

"I accepted this stupid job, in this stupid school, on this stupid Monday because of Dumbledore…" Her voice cracked a little. "He suggested me. I never had the chance to decline…I know I will die in this war…but I don´t want to…"

"You won't die, Ally." Sirius sounded almost angry.

"How can you know?" she whispered in a weak voice. "I was always the one with bad luck. I never won something, never! I had to go to Hogwarts, I was this nerd that always was hanging on the -" she hiccupped "- ceiling. They burned my books and letters from my parents a-and so many other things...I can remember every single one of them..." And she started to cry again as the most hurtful memory of all came back to her. "They killed my parents…after the first war…right there in our living room…I wanted to raise my children in there." She swallowed hard. "Now the only thought that I get when I step in there is how I found them when I came home from university…I thought I could have a normal life without magic…and - and then…"

She exhaled and stopped crying for the last time. Carefully, she freed herself from his hug to look into his eyes. Her face was pale but she knew that her cheeks were red.

"I will stop that! I will not let anyone die because of me again! I won´t let it happen again!" Alina was glad to hear that her voice sounded firm again. She stomped to the door and ripped it open. "So go!"

Sirius looked puzzled.

"Go...and don´t come back."

"Ally, you can´t be serious!" he exclaimed.

"I am," she said, her face expressionless. Sirius however looked shocked. "Please go."

Slowly, he walked to the door and gave her one last glance, a glance full of question and disappointment. Then he Disapparated. She immediately closed the door and let herself fall to the ground.

"No, you are…" she whispered into the cool wood, her forehead resting on it.

…_**...**_

**That´s it! (I'm kidding). But no more kissing.**

**A LOT of you asked me if Sirius and Ally would get together in the next three or so chapters and I´m sorry to tell you this but NO! :D**

**They've known each other for, I don´t know...five months, but only spend around fifteen hours together. I think they need more time!**

**.**

**If you have any questions about the development of this story, just ask!**

**.**

**Thank you for all the comments! I am really grateful for it.**

**And of course, my biggest thanks go to my beta, darkangelevanescent!**

'**Til next chapter ^^**


	11. First shock

…

**First shock**

…

Sirius sat frustrated in the kitchen.

He had tried desperately the last days to talk to Ally, but she wasn´t at home. Not a single hour. To be sure he sat there in his dog form for a whole day and he was sure: The cause of her absent was him...or rather their „conversation". When he came home the first thing he did was to pour himself a glass of firewhisky and drink it in only one gulp.

This wasn´t his week...Harry told him about the things Umbridge did and he was sure, that it wasn´t even half of what really happened in Hogwarts. Remus couldn´t visit him only one time in this awful month, let alone Tonks or Moody. Although Remus promised to visit today, Sirius doubt he would actually show up.

Also he missed Harry. Why had Dumbledore sent him only at the end of the holidays? Now he had to wait till Christmas until this house would be full of laughter again.

And now...Ally did not seem to have the intention of seeing him again. Although he kissed her and she kissed him back, let him hold her, comfort her.

When he thought back at his days at Hogwarts, what he did alot, and compared Ally to his late girlfriends, he had to smirk. They were mostly tall, had this brilliant figure and angel-like face. Ally on the other side was not so skinny, had her rounds and looked so stern, when she wasn´t talking. He only had seen her in this business muggle clothes, not a skirt ending only inches over her butt. She looked not very special at first sight, but her eyes were so brown and her freckles looked so cute. Her nose would move to the right when she smile and her cheeks seemed so soft while she did it. Like a wallflower. The most wonderful he had ever seen.

His first impression of her was that she is a strongwilled, feisty (a little emberassed) and firm women. And suddenly she seemed so weak and desperate, so insecure and helpless. It had made his heart ache.

He sighed. It had been two weeks since he saw her the last time and he was worried. Not knowing if she was in danger made him restless. Walking up and down for a couple of hours hadn´t brought him any further, so he had let himself fall on one of the kitchen stools, pouting over his situation.

His boredome was disturbed by a loud _CRACK_.

Sirius was indeed surprised, that Remus aparated in here. Normally he would ring the doorbell. He stood up and walked to the hall, ready to great his old friend. But the sight let his smile drop and expression fell. There on the floor layed somebody, a women with long, dark hair. Her coat was ripped and she was missing a shoe.

Sirius ran to her and pulled her on the back. His heart stopped for moment. It was Ally.

„Ally!" He shook her. „Ally, can you hear me?"

Her eyelids fluttered, but she didn´t open them. She was pale like ghost, deep circles had formed themselve under eyes and a small cut on her cheek.

„Please, answer me!"

After he shooked her for what felt like an eternity, she opened her eyes. First only a small gap, then wholly.

„Thanks, merlin!", he exhaled and cupped her cheek gently. „Ally, are you allright?"

She just stared at him. Not making a single movement.

„Ally, please...Say something." He tugged one flick of her hair that had fallen in her face and put it behind her ear.

Suddenly tears fell down her cheeks. „I didn´t say a thing...", she smiled weakly.

„What?!" He couldn´t believe it. She may have escaped a nearly death situation and the only thing she would talk about was that?!

„I didn´t say a thing...Nothing." She started to laugh. „You were right.- I can´t believe it." Her laughed died as she started coughing. Sirius helped her to raise her upper body. After that she rested her head against his torso. Even through his shirt, he could feel how icy cold her skin was.

„I didn´t tell them. I just cried and screamed.", she whispered proudly. „And when they threw me in this thing...I was so glad, that it was over..." He wrapped his arms around her, his heart almost bursting with anger and hurt.

„It is over now..", he said. „I will protect you.- Ally, I-" He wanted to look into her eyes, tell her everything that he wanted to, but they were already closed. Ally´s breath got steady and she had this content expression, that made his heart a little lighter.

Carefully he picked her up and carried her up the stairs to his bedroom. Now he regretted not cleaning in there, when Molly had her tantrum at the end of school holidays. But it was too late anyway, so he layed her gently on his bed. Ally didn´t even wince for a second.

After he pulled her last shoe of her foot, he tried to strip her off her coat and thick pullover. Unfortunately she moved on her side, pulling her knees to her stomach. If Sirius didn´t knew better, he would say, that Ally was teasing him. It took him nearly ten minutes to free her from her Pullover and coat and to tuck her under the blanket. While he did that, he had to force himself not to think of what she would look under her top and trousers. He was NOT a pervert! That´s what he told himself. But he couldn´t believe it fully.

For awhile he watched her sleeping. Sirius just sat there beside her and watched, fascinated over her peaceful face. It wouldn´t make him wonder, if the deatheaters hold her capture her for days. His heart ached by the thought of her lying on the ground, while one of this bastards did who knows what to her. Automatically he formed a fist beside Ally´s hand. Nothing could describe his anger that formed itself in his gut. He could not believe that somebody could be able to hurt her. Ally was friendly to everyone, even to Snivellus (although he never liked it). How could somebody hurt her? His thoughts wandered to Lily...She had been so virtues and gentle. But Voldemort had killed her too; together with James...

Suddenly something touched his fist. Startled he looked down and watched how Ally´s hand wrapped itself around his fist. Her hand was so soft, he couldn´t resist on holding it. She smiled for a blink of an eye, but her face relaxed instantly and her grip loosened.

Sirius wanted to sit beside her a lot longer, until she would wake up, maybe even longer. He couldn´t think of any other possibility. Then the doorbell rang.

„Shit!", he cursed. That had to be Remus. As fast and quiet as he could, he left the room, heading to the hall. Remus had definitely a **bad** timing.

Without any hesitation he ripped the door open, facing his friend with a face, that let Remus almost make a step backwards.

„Bad timing, mate! Bad timing.", he grunted.

Confused Remus eyed his friend. „Sirius – You look like you were dumped by this Foster-girl again."

Sirius looked puzzled to his friend. Foster?! He couldn´t remember ever dating a girl with the name Foster. Remus noticed that cluelessness and skipped this.

„That Ravenclaw that - Nevermind - What happened?"

Sirius stroke unsettled with his hand over his beard. „Ally – She-"

Before he could start telling about everything, Remus pushed him into the house and closed the door behind them. Then he noticed the mud on the floor, right were Ally apparated.

„First of all, who´s Ally?", he asked.

„Who Ally is?! - it´s Ally! She is a member of the order since summer."

„The only-" It made click. „Since when do you call her by a nickname? No, since when do you talk her at all? - I thought she just visits for the order meetings?!"

„Yeah-No- I mean- never mind! That´s a long story, I´ll tell you later." Sirius walked up and down.

„All that matters is: She had been attacked by deatheaters!"

„What?! Have you informed Dumbledore?" Remus stopped him by grasping his shoulder. „He has to be informed!"

„No! She aparated just some moments ago here. There was no time!"

„And were is she now?", he asked and looked around, peaking in the livingroom. Expecting a women bleeding to death on the sofa.

„Sleeping upstairs." , Sirius said while started to walk up and down again.

A deep silence hung in the air. Only the sounds of Sirius´ shoes echoed through the room.

* * *

**...**

**At first, I am deeply sorry for the delay. I had thousands of things to do...okay, maybe not^^**

**But I have to apologize for the whole mistakes. My beta quit some days ago and I can´t believe I depended so much on her!**

**Well, if anyone wants the job, feel free to leave a comment or PM me.**

**´Till next time ;D**


	12. First Hiding

**First Hiding**

When Alina opened her eyes, she didn't recognize her surroundings. She was lying in an old, dusty canopy bed with only in her pants and under top. Had someone undressed her? It made her shiver. The thought of one of those deatheaters touching her, made her want to throw up. But then she remembered how she fled and apparated...right to Sirius. Her face flushed at that memory. Putting one and one together Alina concluded that she was in one of the rooms at Grimmauld Place. For a brief moment she thought about staying put and gong back to sleep, but she hadn't had a shower for five days, at least, so she slowly got to her feet and walked on wobbly legs to the door, dressing herself in her pullover and coat. She stopped. Where was her wand? She was hundred percent sure, that she had it in her little case in her inside pocket. That's right...She used it to disapparate...and then dropped it in the hall a sigh escaped her lips. Then she would have to take the Knight Bus to the leaking cauldron and order a portkey. Great; at least she still had her wallet.

Stepping out of the room Alina sneaked down the stairs. Being careful not to make any sound since she knew that Sirius would definitely try to stop her; turning left and heading for the door, somebody spoke directly in her ear.

"Why aren't you in bed?"

She screamed, jumped and stumbled over her own feet all at the same time and would have fallen to the floor, if that same somebody hadn't caught her. Now two worried, grey eyes were staring into hers.

"You are quite jumpy, aren't you?" he smirked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Alina's face was instantly red as a tomato. "I-I-I-"

"You?!", he laughed, still holding her in his arms with his face lowered nose to nose with hers.

"I need...to go...", she said slowly, sounding not very convinced of her own words. Her heart was fluttering in her chest like a kolibri.

"No, you don't. I brought some of your clothes here and Dumbledore informed the school, that you took an early break."

Dumbfounded she stared at him. She felt his breath against her lips.

"Oh...I-I-But-"

"No buts..." he grinned. Sirius looked so confident and nearly emitted sparks, she guessed by his aura and posture. He seemed to be having a lot of fun. She on the other hand had legs made out of jelly, her heart almost jumped through her throat and Alina was positive that it was not because she was hungry.

"So...how about you take a bath, change and I will make us something to eat?"

"Maybe if you left the food out..."

Sirius laughed full-throatily. "Anything you want!"

* * *

Sirius tried to cook a decent breakfast and failed completely. The kitchen looked like the last wizard war was held in it and the only thing Alina could think of, when she entered it washed and dressed neatly, was to laugh. Even the walls were smeared with something that could not to be identified.

"Sorry...I thought I would get it right this time. Molly left this housespell book here..." He pointed his wand at the likewise soaked book on the counter. Alina had to bite her lip not to laugh more.

"It was still nice of you..." she chuckled and examined the ruined book. "Besides I think this book can be...restored or how do you call it?" She met his skeptical gaze. Even after sleeping for the rest of the day, the whole night and into the late morning, the dark circles hadn't disappeared. Her face was almost white and the cut on her cheek had bled again.

"You should lay down til I clean up and try again." He said softly and stepped up to her. "I hate to say this to you but you look horrible!"

The only thing she did was to smile and take his wand gently out of his hand. "You should leave the cleaning thing to a pro." She swung his wand and magically the strange substance disappeared from everything and anything. Smirking she turned back to him. "You are charming as always."

He smiled faintly while Ally laid the wand on the counter.

"Thanks, but I really think you should lay down."

"I'm fine Sirius. I am not dead, traumatized or anything. I'm just hungry." She pressed her lips together and walked over to the cupboards.

"You were held captive and you were tortured. Not on a promotional trip!" Sirius was furious. How could she not care about herself? If it had happened to him, Harry or anyone else she would be the one to throw a tantrum and gather every auror she could find to hunt down the deatheaters then lock that person into a basement and mother them until they were better.

"Calm down! I am fine!" she grunted. "I am here and not there!"

"Have you any idea what could have happen to you?! You could have died! DIED!", he shouted.

"But I'm not dead. I am alive! Safe and sound! Here in your kitchen! Isn't that enough?!" Breathing loud she turned around, trying to escape his angry gaze. But it was no use. Sirius headed to her, grabbed her shoulders and turned her back, so that she had to face him.

"You were in danger, Ally! Why are you behaving like nothing had happened?"

"Because I don't care, yes, it was horrible there! But I don't care anymore!" Tears dwelled in her eyes. "I can't change what happened to me- but-but it could have been worse, Sirius; so much worse. And I feel...I feel safe now. It's over...I'm just happy I didn't die..."

In pure disbelief he looked down on her. „That's absolutely- If you could hear yourself!"

If you would listen to me, I'm just happy to be here. **Here**. Don't you get it?!"

Puzzled his eyes wandered over her hopeful face.  
"Just, forget it...", she whispered and turned back to the cupboard. "I am hungry and as I guess you should be too."

Sirius stood there, watching how she chopped vegetables and filled a pot with water.

"You stand there like ordered and not received!", she said suddenly.

"What?!" She needed a dictionary.

"Stop standing around. Sit or go. You make me nervous."

He sat down, still thinking about what she had said. For a while only the noise of the knife hitting the vegetables was heard. And when Sirius tried to speak up again, the doorbell rang.

"I'll go...", he said and stood up.

* * *

It was Remus; again. He wanted to check up on Sirius, hoping that his friend had calmed down and was more reasonable than yesterday. His hopes shattered in pieces, when Sirius opened the door, looking both confused and angry. Annoyed to bear his friends moods again he sighed, still trying to smile.

"Hello Sirius..."

"Moony...bad timing..."

"Again?!" Remus raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah...we got into a fight." Sirius turned around and walked to the family tree room followed by his friend. While Sirius seemed angry, Remus could only smirk and he decided to play along.

"About what, a new carpet?"

"She pretending that everything's all right! Like nothing had happened!"

„That is unusual..."

Sirius almost exploded. „Unusual?! She has gone mental!""

"Calm down, Sirius!"

"No! I won't! Not until she's honest with me!"

"Did she say she wasn't tortured?"

"No."

"Held captured?"

"No."

"Then how is she not being honest with you?"

"She said she is fine. FINE! Can you believe it?!" Sirius stepped up to Remus. "She said, it is enough that she is here and not there! HERE in this cursed house. And then she asked me why I couldn't understand it!"

Remus' serious expression fell instantly and he began to laugh. "Mate, I knew you were quite self-opinionated, but you've reached the next level."

"What are you talking about?"

Still chuckling Remus tried to hold the rest of his serious posture. "Alina said, she is fine as long as she is here and not there."

"By Merlin's beard, yes! I've been trying to tell you that for ages!"

Remus laughed harder. "And she's said it to you multiple times. Right?"

"Moony, what is so funny? Spill it!" With a stern look Sirius eyed him. What did he know, that he, Sirius Black, wasn't able to figure out.

"I can't tell you.", Remus said flatly.

"Why not?"

"Because that is your task!"

"Of what?! Stop talking in puzzles! You are almost as bad as Ally!"

Remus smiled, enjoying the cluelessness of his friend. Right at that moment the door flung open, reveling a furious Ally. "I could hear every single word!", she huffed. "And I swear: If you spill the beans, Mr Lupin," She pointed at him with a wooden spoon. "I'll kill you myself. And forget magic I'll use this plain ol spoon to do it. And Sirius!" She turned to him. "I. Am. Fine. I'm neither hurt nor traumatized. Just fine!"

Ally shot Sirius a last glance, leaving the room with a final slam of the door.

"See?! I told you. She went crazy!", Sirius said quietly to Remus, when he had turned back from the door. "She's in denial."

"I CAN STILL HEAR YOU!"

.

.

.

**Well, well...**

**that was it for now^^ I´m flying for a week to london, finally seeing this city with my own eyes ;)**

**Next update might be in two weeks.**

**AND GREAT NEWS: I got a new beta MAESILVERPAWS1**

**Hunder thousand of thanks to her!**

**´Till next time!**


	13. First peace

..**  
**

**First peace**

..

Remus quickly decided it would be the best to leave as soon as possible, otherwise he might be pulled into this...quarrel. When he left, he gave Sirius some final advice.

"Sirius, stop behaving like a little boy and persisting on that whole 'she-is-not-honest-with-me' thing."

Sirius wanted to protest, but Remus was faster.

"Just..uh...be here.", he said, clapping his friend encouragingly on the shoulder as he stepped out of the door.

For a while, Sirius stood there and blinked, both puzzled and confused.

"But I am already...here..." he said to himself and looked around. Did he mean the hall...or the whole house or just downstairs?! The answer had to be difficult, otherwise Remus wouldn´t have given him a tip.

He decided to stop guessing. He just wasn´t in the mood for playing cat and mouse, Ally was somewhere in his god damned house, suffering under her trauma. She had one! Nobody should take something like this so easily. Even he had to admit, that Azkaban had changed him. There was barely a night he was allowed to sleep through. He didn´t have nightmares, he had memories of these dementors sucking every bit of happiness out of his body. Memories of not being able to protect the son of his best friends to not to raise him; allowing these bastards to attack him; just sitting in this fucking cold and wet cell to wait for his _kiss_.

Clenching his teeth he walked to the kitchen. Ally wasn´t there, just her wand Sirius already thought it to be a habit of hers to forget it anywhere and everywhere.

He went upstairs to his room, checking to see if she went back to sleep. No Ally. He even looked into Buckbeack's room.

Suddenly a realization hit him. What if she went home alone? Panicking he ran down the stairs, back to the kitchen, then to the livingroom. Still no Ally. Just when he wanted to run out the door and seek through the street, he heard a quiet sob right out of the room with the family tree.

Carefully he approached the door, peeking into the room.

She stood right at the wall where his face was burned out, clasping a hand over her mouth. Obviously: She cried. When he stepped up to her, Ally hastily wiped away her tears.

"Are you alright?", he asked, trying to sound not as concerned as he really was. After all they had just been in a fight.

"Yeah...of course. Just got dust into my eyes.", she laughed half-heartily as she rubbed her eyes. "Really, not even my room is as dusty and I clean only like once in the year..."

"You don´t have to pretend-", he started, but she never let him finish.

"It´s not about that.", she blubbered out and darted her eyes at the wall. Confused Sirius looked first to her, then to the wall, directly to the burned oval at the wallpaper. Was she crying over _that_?!

"I don´t understand..."

"This...was your home, once...", she hiccupped. Sirius couldn´t help but to sneer at that.

"I lived here for the most horrible sixteen years of my life. Living under deatheaters and stuck-up pure bloods." He flinched slightly. "Honestly, I still don´t know what was worse, Azkaban or this!"

Ally´s eyes widened as she looked at him. He could spot the fine trails her tears had left behind.

It was easy to read her mind. Her facial expression screamed "Why?".

"My whole family consisted of deatheaters. Arrogant, pure blooded wizard and witches kissing the ground that Voldemort might have only glanced at." he said bitterly. "They hosted deatheater parties' right here in this room..." His gaze wandered over the wallpaper. "And when I was born everyone was sure I would step into their footsteps. But I was different. I liked everything about Muggles; I even had a flying motorcycle. And when I got sorted into Gryffindor" -Sirius laughed at that memory. "I got the most terrifying Howler Hogwarts had ever seen. - Then I befriended Pron- I mean James and Remus… And Peter. Hogwarts had become my home and after my fifth year I ran away. Lived with the Potters until I finished school and rented a flat in Diogan Alley." His smile disappeared. "My mother burned my face out herself. From that moment on I was dead in her eyes."

Ally started to sob again. She tried to muffle it with her hand, but failed completely.

"You don´t have to pity me...", Sirius said dryly.

"I don´t- No I...I-", she wiped her tears away again. "I cry because a mother denied her son. I cry because a family broke apart. A family should stick together, to the very last moment, no matter how-how-" She ran her fingers through her hair. Her cheeks were still wet. Sirius surpressed the urged, to wipe th tears away himself.

"My family, wasn´t my family...James, Lily and Remus, Harry. They are my family." Sirius glanced down on her. How she bit her lip. How she crossed her arms and dug her long fingernails into her skin. "It´s just...Why...do you keep this wallpaper? - It might only show the whole family, you have the opportunity to know every single person who ever wore the name Black...So...why don´t you just...rip it off?"

Sirius was dumbfounded. Yes, why not. "Let´s do it!"

"Wha-" He started at his burn hole and peeled of a slim stripe of the wallpaper.

"Oh, come on Ally it's just wallpaper." Why hadn't he thought about it sooner? His mother was already off the wall; Kreacher had been thrown out the very first day, sent to somewhere near China. Everyone was dead ,except for his lovely cousins, so he could do whatever he wanted with it or to it.

After some moments Ally joined him and together they ripped of the wallpaper. Stripe for stripe. First in complete silence, then smiling, then grinning and then laughing.

"I can´t believe we´re doing this!", Ally laughed as she threw another stripe to the floor.

"Why? Never done something crazy-"

"-and unbelievably stupid?! No I haven´t. I was always this- how do you call it- goody two shoes?" Ally laughed at Sirius. He grinned. "Kind of. But I think I understand what you mean."

For a moment they stared at each other, but Ally backed her attention to the wall.

"How do we get at the paper up there?" She pointed up to the brim of wall and ceiling. „I don´t think you have something like-like-like- uh...what do you call it?"

"What? You mean a ladder?! No, I don´t think so. But we could try something different."

Skeptically Ally eyed him as he took out his wand and pointed it on her. "What do you- No! No, no, no!" She stepped back. "You aren´t thinking, what I am thinking, are you?"

"It is just a levitation charm. I am a capable wizard, trained to be an auror. You are in safe hands. Honest."

"No, no, no, no, no, no! NO! Never. I would rather eat my own finger than withstand every physical law I know."

"Come on. That are not more than some inches you will levitate. You sat on a broom, that is no-"

"I. never. Sat on a broom. I am afraid of heights and by the way: we could just switch."

"That wouldn´t be fun!", Sirius smirked. "Come on. I´ll catch you, if you fall."

"I said no Sirius. I won't let you levitate me."

"Oh." His mind had drifted off to something even more fun. „Then...let´s try-" He stepped up to her. Ally raised her eyebrow skeptically. "What?"

"This!" As fast as he could, he bent down, wrapped his arms around her hip and lifted her up. She could only scream horrified. "Put me down, Sirius! Put me down!"

Sirius only laughed full throated, spinning her around, after sweeping her over his shoulder.

"Sirius! I am serious! I will hurt you if you don´t do it!"

He started to laugh even louder. "As if!"

She started to hit him with her fist; feeling dizzy already. "Put me down! This instant! Or-"

"Or what?"

"Or I will make you!" grabbing onto his sides and tickling him.

"What are you-" Sirius began to falter and stumble. At last they fell to the floor. Both were laughing.

"I can´t believe it worked!", giggled Ally as she laid beside Sirius on the floor.

"I never thought you would do something that childish!", he chuckled and sat up to look at her face.

"I do have my moments." Then she burst out laughing again.

"What? Is something in my face?"

"No – Just, some of the paper-" She raised herself and touched him on his back. "-is stuck on your blazer." Pointedly she showed him the strip of wallpaper, that she had plucked from his back.

"And you have some in your hair..." He wanted to reach for the small paper stripe, but she hastily pulled it out.

"Okay..." Ally stood up and dust herself off. "What about we continue this with magic?!"

**.**

**.**

**.**

**They made up...how surprising^^**

**I had a little trouble at school, so I somehow forgot to update O.o I Know...I´m a terrible person...But my lovely beta MaeSilverpaws isn´t! She´s awesome!**

**Allright, Allright! 'Till next time!**


	14. First Pain

...

**First pain**

...

By the end of the day all of the wallpaper was down and burned in the fireplace even though Alina had protested the burning of the paper. Sirius on the other hand was satisfied with the result and couldn't stop smiling. It seemed to Alina, that a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders. So when Alina started to cook dinner she wasn't surprised when Sirius wanted to help her...unfortunately he wasn't he very useful.

At least he was able to chop carrots otherwise he had to count grains of salt.

"So, how did you learn to cook so well? Did your mother teach you?", he asked when they sat at the table.

"My mother died when I was at University and before that I was seven years at Hogwarts. During the holidays I was in Muggleschool...So there was rarely time for cooking lessons. - I read her cookbooks and notes...Then I tried to remember what it tasted like..." She closed her eyes for a brief moment. "It was difficult, but I made it."

"You did a pretty good job!" said Sirius as he shoveled a piece of meat in his mouth.

"Thanks...But I'm not nearly as good as she was..." For a moment she stared absently out of the window. "You know, after we nearly destroyed the other room...we should make it more homely; maybe with a new wallpaper or paint..."

"And we could do the same with the hall and the kitchen! And the upstairs-"

Alina laughed. "Sirius, calm down; I'm not even staying until Christmas."

Sirius felt like he was hit by a brick as he realized Alina would be leaving his gaze and smile fell. Typical for her Alina felt instead guilty.

"Well...let's start small...then."

* * *

The next hour Alina desperately tried, to stop Sirius from ripping his house into little pieces. At first he just wanted to get rid off the last paintings in the hall, but after five minutes of trying with both physical force and magic nothing had changed. Luckily, Alina had a sixth sense for trouble and stepped in, before Sirius could use an explosive spell on a picture full of dark wizards, who were torturing some non wizards. She tried to teach him the same spell she had used to remove his mother from the entrance, but failed completely. Patients didn't seem to be a trait he shared with her.

Before Sirius could argue with her, she grabbed his wand and locked it in one of the kitchen drawers. "You'll get it back, when you behave yourself, young man!", she stated, after hiding the key in one of her pockets. "And don't even think of going after that key." She added with a smile.

"I am thirty-six..." he grumbled playfully. "You can't treat me like small boy." He stepped up to her, bringing their faces at the same height. "I am a grown man, you know?! So I won't to be treated like one." With a flirtatious smile, he brought his nose directly in front of Alina´s. Embarrassed and nervous, she flushed tomato red. "Especially when we are alone..."

"I...That..." She began sputtering something in German.

Sirius couldn't pull himself together and started laughing full-throatily. "Oh, Merlin. You are so easy to tease!" Alina wasn't amused at all feeling humiliated she and turned around, and rushed straight up the stairs.

"Ally, stop! I didn't mean to make you angry! Please_", she could here him pleading from downstairs.

"Too late!" she shouted then slammed the bedroom door shut. How could he play with her like that! For a moment she thought that Sirius liked her. But now it felt like she was a toy to him; a stupid toy, to alleviate his boredom. Couldn't he see how it hurt her? Of course not...Desperately she screamed in her pillow. He didn't even know, that she lov-

Suddenly stiff she sat up. „_Oh, no...no, no, no, no, no...I am not in love with him..._", Alina whispered, slightly in panic. "_I__ can't__ be..."_

"Ally, please, I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you angry!" Sirius stood there, right in front of the door. Only now she was able to realize, that her heart was fluttering in her chest.

"I-I am not angry!"

"You are! - Your right eyebrow crumbles in the middle, when you get angry." Really, how or better yet why did he notice that? Confused, she touched said eyebrow. How could he know? Or did he make it up? Lucky guess... "Please, come out...", he pleaded.

Desperate she pressed her lips together. If Sirius saw her now...everything would be over. He'd put one and one together, then he wouldn't want to speak to her and, and, and...

"Ally...please..."

She sighed deeply. "Fine...But only...but only if you promise to never do that again..."

"I promise! I promise, I promise! By Merlin's beard, on my mothers grave, by the big kraken that roams in the lake in Hogwarts, by-"

"Okay, I got it..." Alina laughed. "I believe you." _I trust you. _She rolled off the bed, onto her feet and opened the door. There he stood, still like a guilty little boy, who broke his mother's favorite porcelain vase. His face lighted up, as he saw her timid smile. "But if you do that ever again, I swear-"

A loud CRACK interrupted them.

"Are you expecting someone?" she asked, stepping out of the door. Then her gaze met Sirius´. He didn't look very pleased about his answer.

"That must be Dumbledore..." he said through his hand. Unsure he stroke over his beard. "He wanted to talk to you..."

Pause.

"Insecure, she shifted her weight onto her left foot. They looked at each other, thinking the same thing. Alina had to talk. Whether she wanted or not. Although Sirius really wanted to know what happened to her, he never had asked her about it and for that, Alina was really grateful. But now, she had no choice.

"Yeah...we should..."

* * *

_They found themselves in a landscape full of mountains and rocks. It was already dark, the sun almost disappeared behind the peaks and even the birds flew to their safe nests at the mountain walls._

_Ally stood there, wrapping her dark coat tighter around her frame. Her hair was pulled into a really messy __bun, so__ not typical. The only hairdos, he ever had seen here – beside the time, she flew from the deatheaters – were__ neatly__ tied buns or a pony tail. Sirius had to admit: It made her look kind of sexy. __Immediately__ he scolded himself for that thought. In __just a__ moment, he would see the man, who tortured Ally and scarred her for a lifetime and the only thing he could give a thought about, was how good __that__ sloppy hairstyle suited her._

_Not a second later Ally started walking on the small trail and __Sirius__, Dumbledore and Snape followed her calmly. __Repeatedly__, she would turn around, revealing her unsure and slightly scared face. Sirius needed all his restrain not to try to grab her and pull her to his side. After a few minutes, they reached a bluff. __Standing there were__ two tents, in front of them burned a small fire. Hastily Ally took a flat box out of her inner coat pocket and opened it. It already __was__ dark, Sirius could call __himself__ lucky, that he could still see his hands in front of his __face__, but they recognized the long and slender thing she took out of the box__; a wand__._

_She whispered a spell,but nothing happened. Ally cursed in __German__ and tried again. Again, nothing. Carefully she peeked over the bush. Thereby, the earth under her made a squishing sounds. It seemed soaking __wet__ from all the rain._

_Suddenly the bush and Ally fell forward, down the __bluff__ bank. Only __a__ quiet, muffled cry was heard, but it was enough to alarm the tents owner._

_The men followed down the bluff, being careful__ not to stumble, they followed Ally, who was already cornered by dark __clothed__ men with raised wands. A simple expelliarmus was enough to disarm her._

"_Who are you?" One of the three barked and kicked her in the side. "A muggle?!"_

"_Are ya' dumb?! She´s a Spy!" Another one shouted._

_A third one grabbed her hair and dragged her near the fire. Ally cried in pain, trying to loosen the grip on her hair in following. "Show us ya' face!" She didn't look like Ally anymore. Pale, frightened, distorted. Even, when Sirius had followed her to her flat, she looked more...like Ally. On top of that her face and hair were smeared with mud._

"_Who sent you?" The first one asked, ripping her head back._

_Ally kept quiet._

"_I'm only asking you one more time! Who sent you?" The guy pulled his hand __full of__ her hair higher, ripping out a few strands._

_Ally yelped, but didn't say a thing._

"_Ya' won´ talk to us?-Then we'll make ya'!" The second one kicked her in the stomach and pointed his wand at her. "Crucio!"_

_Ally screamed. "Who sent you?" Her limbs squirmed. She screamed more. "Talk, bitch! - Crucio!"_

_Tears fell down Ally's cheeks. But she didn't talk. "Crucio!"_

_The memory started blurring - it merged to the next one._

"_Talk to us and we might give you some water."_

_Ally was tied to a tree, looking more __miserable__ than before. The deatheater poked her with the water cup. Almost disgusted, she turned her head away._

"_Come on. Maybe we can become more friendly.." He had a glint in his eyes that spoke of nothing good. _

_Inside of Sirius hate and pure anger broke out. His hands formed fist, ready to break bones. But what pulled him out of it, was Ally's reaction: She __spit right in the deatheater's__ face._

"_You __little__-" He slapped her._

_A second deatheater came __into__ the picture. "Time for __questioning__…" He tied her __loosely__ and __roughly yanked her__ up, only to push her back to the ground._

"_Talk."_

_Nothing._

"_Crucio!", the first one shouted._

_She cried __out__ something in __German__. It sounded like 'stop'._

"_Maybe she doesn't speak English…", the other one assumed._

_The curse ended._

"_English! Do you speak English?" With his foot, he pushed Ally __onto__ her back. On her cheek was a thin cut, bleeding heavily. "Do you speak English?"_

_Vehemently Ally shook her head, sobbing a short word over and over again._

"_Damn!" he cursed under his breath._

"_It doesn´t matter. Just kill her." _

"_But what if she still understands us? She could fake it!"_

_While the two deatheaters were __busy__ discussing Ally's __fate__, she tried to stand up. She failed, but started to crawl to the two deatheaters. They didn't notice her. Not even as she __lay motionless in front__ of their feet. As quick as lightning, her hand shot to the first deatheater's belt and grabbed something. It was a wand._

_"You bi-"__They__ tried grabbing her, but as fast, as she had grabbed for the one, she disaparated._

* * *

**Well...I´m not really statisfied with this chapter, but it was time to "talk" about it anyway!**

**Hope you are more happy with it, than I am.**

An also I hope anybody does read this Note, because I - the incredible author - am giving you - my incredible readers - the chance to have a voice in this story:**  
**

**First of all: **Which subjects does Ally teach ? (In Germany a teacher has 2 subjects)**  
**

Feel free to suggest!**  
**

**Second of all: **Do you like dresses? - No, seriously! - Would you like Ally to wear a dress for christmas?**  
**

When nobody suggest something, not my problem ^^ But don´t complain secretly for yourself when you don´t like the outcome ;D**  
**

**Big thanks to my beta maesilverpaws!**

**'Til next time**

** ...the next capters are planned for christmas...litteraly!**


	15. First bridge

**First bridge**

Ally had sat motionlessly on the kitchen stool, when the memory had ended. Immedately Sirius searched for eye contact, but she just stared at the cup of tea in her hand. Strange, didn´t she say, that she hated tea?

"This seemed to be enough...", declared Dumbledore with a soft voice. Ally raised her head, avoiding Sirius' glance, and looked kind of relieved at Dumbledore. "You already heard, that I informed the headmaster of your school, if I´m not confusing?!"

"Yeah, I told her.", answered Sirius for her.

"Good, good...But" Dumbledore grasped in his cloak and pulled a long cardboard box out of it. "he asked me to give this to you. Apartently your absence caused a delaye on correcting these class tests."

Ally laughed slightly. "Yes, November is a busy month for german teachers. I nearly drowned in work my first year..." He handed her the heavy looking cardboard box, then he turned to Snape.

"I think we should depard, Severus. My shedule is too busy with making arangements, than keeping our dear Ally from resting." Snape nodded silently. "So I hope you´ll take good care of Ally, Sirius. Her last vacation is too far to remember." He blinked amused and walked out of the kitchen, Snape following close behind. As soon as the familar CRACK (ertönte), Sirius aproached a slightly shaken Ally.

"Are you allright?", he asked and sat down beside her. "You look a little pale..."

"I´m fine...really..." Ally´s forehead crumbled. "It´s just..."

"It´s just..?!"

She sighed. "It´s nothing. Maybe I just need to work; to clear my head." not a second later, she opened the box. "Oh my..."

"What?!" Curious Sirius stepped behind her and looked over her shoulder. A mountain of paper with strange gaps and lines laughed at them. On it was something scribbled in german with blue and black ink. "What´s that?"

"My doom...", moaned Ally. "66 exams, done by 66 absolutely clueless pupils..."

Sirius decided to take a look himself and took the first paper. It was not a single paper, but a double page. Nearly a third of the text was crossed out or so unroughly written, that he couldn´t decode the letters. A tiped page fell on the table recvealing something he knew.

"That are spells!", he rejoiced.

Ally laughed. "Not really. That´s Latin." She stood up and pointed with her finger at a line. "You meant 'protego', didn´t you?"

"Yeah...but what the hell is Latin?"

"It´s a language. It was spoken two thousand years ago in Italy... You see, 'protego' means 'I protect'. Latin was the official language for spell performing until the 1950'. It came in really handy for Charms. But the most interesting things is the history behind the language and with it! Ceasar, Ovid, Aristoteles, Carl the Great, Alexander the Great...God, I loved translating these textes. The developement of the wizard community was written down in Latin, too! Merlin, Morgan La`Fey, Circe, Magus, Taliesin! All of them wrote ther spells in Latin!"

"Makes sense..." Suddenly that 'Latin' didn´t sound interesting anymore.

"Yip...Although, verytime I look at these exams, I wish I never learned it..." With a troubled face she took one of the exams and looked at it. "Maybe I should start with English first..."

"Or what about dinner?" Sirius threw the paper on the table together with the one Ally hold in her hand.

"Procrastinating is not what I usually do, Sirius. These exams need to be corrected as soon as possible!"

"Come on, Ally. They won´t disapeare from on moment to another." He grinned and pushed the box aside. "And I am hungry."

She laughed, hiding her mouth behind her hand and muttered something in German.

"But I am really hungry." He tried to sound not as desperate, as he was. Ally was still a little pale. Even if she wasn´t with them in the Pensieve, she lived through those memories again. He knew it. He felt it. To bury herself in work, would distract her, but it didn´t sound right to Sirius. He felt like embracing her. Comfort her. Let her know, that he was there...and he was really hungry.

"Allright...A bit food couldn´t harm..."

Sirius snapped ou of his thoughts. Unintenionly he had stared at her. Her neatly braided hair falling over her shoulder shimmered slightly red in the light of the lamp. The T-shirt and her dark jeans let her look younger than that pansuit. Mentally he decided that it looked way better than that pant suit and hoped Ally wouldn´t touch that thing for the next few days.

"Sirius?! Are you allright?"

He had stared again.

* * *

A week later Alina had left Grimmauld Place and went back home. She loved staying with Sirius. It was refreshing, exciting...but at the same time she was worried, he could hear her heart pounding in her chest, when he decided to get another inch closer.

Together they had finished the room with the familytree or rather which HAD the familiytree once. There was no trace left of it. Not even a slight glint. Now it looked like homely living room, rather than a creepy old place.

Suddenly her own flat seemed so small and lonely to her. No Sirius complaining he´s hungry. No Sirius, who tried to prank her with those strange moving dustballs. No Sirius who´s laugh made her heart speed up and her face flush. Apartently everything she missed was Sirius or Sirius related.

So she did, what every women in her Situation would do: She visited her best friend.

Alina´s best friend lived together with her husband in a nice house, in a friendly neighbourhood a village farther. Before she had order duty´s, she would come by every Saturday for three or two hours to chat with her. But ofcourse that had changed. So she would use the opportunity and visit her as long as she could risk.

"So...if I get this right...You met a man with _this occupation _in England, while your worked in a language school in London. And you played house with him and his fifteen year old godson...", her friend concluded with a slight undertone. She knew Alina was a witch since they were fifteen, but nothing about the order let alone the upcoming war. It was healthy to talk to a normal person once in a while.

"Playing house isn´t what I would have said..."

"You cooked, you cleaned, you renovated and played agony-aunt for his boy."

"Okay...I maybe did..." Defeated Alina sunk into the soft chair under her. "I couldn´t help myself...They needed help and he was so..."

"Hot?!"

„NO! - I mean yes, but-but, that wasn´t what I saw...at first..."

Her friend chuckled. "He has whrapped you around his little finger..."

"He´s a nice guy. He asks if I´m well, talks with me...and regularly does what I say..." Alina pouted, trying to save her pride.

"You really like him, don´t you?"

"Yes...But it´s no good...I mean...he lives in England."

"That´s not a reason. And something like that shouldn´t be a problem for someone like you!"

"I know, I know..." Alina sighed. "It´s just he´s so...and I am so...You get it?!"

Ofcourse. They have been friends for years. "Somehow. But it shouldn´t concer you. What you told me, let´s me think, that he likes you, too."

"You think?"

"Would I ever lie to you?"

"You already did. Remember the time I had to search the whole swimming pool for my shoe, only to notice, that it had layed in my bag the whole time!"

"That´s because you never listen to me!" They laughed. "But seriously. Sirius sounds like a honest fellow. Just give it a try!"

"And what if you misinterpreted everything? What if he just wants to be friends?"

"Come on! Normally you are the pushy one of us. You-"

Someone came into the kitchen. It was the husband. "There´s one of those disgusting cards from her again!", he said grumpily and put the mail infront of his wife. "Hi, Alina. - Seriously! This women finds everytime an uglier one. And this one has even perfume on it!" Angrily he poured himself a cup of coffee and waled out of the door.

"He has a headache since yesterday.", defended the wife her husband.

"But her card really stinks...", muttered Alina and reached for the purple envelope with golden flourishes.

"Anyway! You should surprise him!"

"And how? He already knows my cooking, cleanig and renovating skills.", joked Alina and opened the envelope. There weren´t much more things she could do, beside simple housework, some charms and gardening. What should she do? Present him a rose bush glowing in three different colours?!

"You should were a dress!"

* * *

**That´s it...Don´t panic! This chapter is just a bridge to the next one. **

Can you feel it? Christmas is coming! Finally!

Biggest thanks to my beta** maesilverpaws!**

**'Til next time**


	16. First Christmas

**I Know I know...I´m pretty late with updating stuff...**

**Well...but here is the quite late christmas chapter...**

* * *

**First Christmas**

Christmas came faster than Alina had expected. Too fast for Alina´s liking. Sirius and of course Harry, too, had invited her for Christmas and expected – to put it in Sirius' words – something delicious.

Nothing in particular, as long as it tasted good. On top of that, her best friend had insisted on picking out the outfit she should wear, her hairstyle and make up.

So now she stood in front of the door of number 12 Grimmauld Place in a too thin dress under her coat and carrying two boxes in her arms. But somehow she couldn't bring herself to push the doorbell.

What if she looked ridiculous in this dress? What if the color didn't suit her? And what if she looked fat in it? And the lip-stick? She had never worn lip-stick in their presence, let alone a noticeable amount like now.

Before Alina decided to disaparate home and change, she got a hold of herself and pushed the bell.

"Stay calm, don´t worry. Everything is going to be fine..." was her short mantra- 7,a echoedthrough her head.

The door opened and Alina found herself holding her breath and was surprised to find herself just a little disappointed when it revealed a glowing Molly Weasely.

"Oh, Alina. So nice of you to come. - Come in child!", she chirped and pulled her into the house. What?! No questioning?!

From upstairs she heard loud laughing and a dull bang. She flinched.

"Oh, don´t worry dear! The kids just opened their Christmas Cracker. - Let´s put your boxes into the kitchen."

A bit too hastily, Molly snatched one of her boxes and danced like an elf to the kitchen,

"Careful! Please, the torte!", Alina shouted. Unfortunately too loud, because someone emerged from said room and ran Molly almost over. Luckily, she staggered only for a blink of an eye. Instead of apologizing, this certain someone preferred to head over to Alina.

"You're here!" Euphorically Sirius wanted to scoop her up in his arms, but as fast as she could she gently shoved the last box in her arms against his chest.

"Merry Christmas to you, too, Sirius.", she smiled. From the kitchen hailed happily chatter.

Sirius blinked looking much like a startled owl. "Chris- Oh yes. Yes. Merry Christmas, Ally!"

"Thank you..." Unsettled, Alina tried to avoid Sirius mustering gaze, by picking up the bouquetMrs Weasly had dropped so unwarily.

"What's in this box?" asked Sirius' hand gripped the brim of the box lid, she walked past him.

"Biscuits!"

He followed her like a lost puppy, while she tried to hide her flushed face. Why in God's name did his smile turn her legs to jelly and her heart beat like after finishing a marathon?

* * *

'I love biscuits!

Inwardly he could hit himself. 'I love biscuits'. Something smarter just hadn't come to his mind. It wasn't his fault at all. She was the one, who had come in with her hair down and the mostgorgeous smile on her red colored lips. They only called for being kissed. Sadly the last time he had kissed her hadn't been that successful.

So Sirius decided to follow her plainly to the kitchen.

"How is Harry?", she asked out of the blue.

"Fine under the circumstances. Umbridge is nuts. Calling herself _The_ _High Inquisitor_..." His tone darkened. "But the worst thing is Dumbledore's hands are bound by the ministry. They-"

"Ally!" - You´re here!", Harry called happily interrupting them, as he jumped down the stairs closely followed by Ron. Somewhere in his stomach sat a furry, little monster growling displeased.

"Hey, Harry. Merry Christmas." Ally smiled warmly. "And of course to you Ron, too."

"What´s in the box?" Curious the boys wriggled themselves through to Ally and were currently mustering the white paper box in Ally´s hands.

"Biscuits.", answered Sirius, trying to get her attention back.

"Biscuits?!"

"I love biscuits!", exclaimed Ron who was fighting off the urge to lift the box. "What biscuitsexactly?"

"Gingerbread stars with cinnamon and sugarcoating. - I brought a torte too, but I think your mother already put it in the kitchen." She blinked and walked to the kitchen door.

Sirius on the other hand had the distinct urge to pout. He had seen her first.

"Oh, Ally, there you are! We thought Sirius might have kidnapped you!", joked Arthur, who was still wrapped in bandages, and raised his glass. Ally flushed slightly red from his teasing.

"I nearly succeed, but those two here" Sirius clapped both of the boys on the back. "put a halt to that plan"

Sirius, his jealousy overcoming, laughed together with Arthur and the boys, while Ally preferred to hand Mrs Weasly the bouquet.

"Thank you for inviting me over!"

"Oh, thank you, darling. But it was Sirius who invited you!"

„Oh, I know." Ally chuckled. „But you are quasi the hostess and it´s tradition to present the hostess some flowers."

"Look at her Arthur! If she was some years younger, she would be perfect for our Bill!"

While Mrs Weasly searched for a vase, Sirius tried to suppress a growl. She wasn't perfect for Bill! She was perfect for him!

"Ron, Harry. Go upstairs and tell your siblings, that we'll have tea in five minutes."

Grumbling the two boys left.

Sirius sat down next to Arthur and tried to not get too distracted by Ally´s flame red dress. Finally he could make out her curves and smooth movements. When she wore her horrible pant suit or pullovers, it let her look so much older. Now she looked more...seductive.

He needed to cool down. Either that, or he would embarrass himself completely, which might cause Ally to back off. Which would only bring them back right to the start.

"- and I heard from Kingsley, you´re working again?!" Sirius snapped out of his inner fight. He missed nearly a whole conversation between Arthur and Ally.

"Yes, I am." She smiled unsurely. Apparently she still couldn't talk well about...the thing. „I had enough time to - eh – recover and I had so much work piled up on my desk."

And then Arthur used his chance to question Ally on her Muggle School, he didn't stop, after the children came bouncing down the stairs and everybody helped themselves with cake andbiscuits. Soon the whole table was discussing the topic and Sirius got the slight feeling of being neglected.

* * *

After tea, Molly turned on the turn wireless and the whole house was filled with the voice ofMolly's favorite singer Celestia Warbeck. But the only one infected by her charm not surprisinglywas Molly herself. So they parted in small groups. Mrs Weasly was eager to show Ally, what she made of the family tree room as soon as possible. While the younger children ,excluding Bill, who preferred to sit beside his father, all hid upstairs.

"-and then, I had hang on these pictures, but I still had the feeling, that something was missing. So I decided for flowers, but how could I get my hands on suitable flowers in winter?!" She chuckled amused about herself. Sirius could hear her all way through the hall into the kitchen. „What a coincidence, that I ran in Mary Farrington – an old friend of mine back in Hogwarts – while I made my Christmas shopping and guess what her job is? She became aflorist after traveling for years after the war! And on top of that: She opened her own shop in Diagon Alley! I got the flowers for a discount. I knew that-"

Sirius decided to rescue his damsel in distress, who was just nodding politely on Molly's words, and rose from his seat. "Good luck, mate!", whispered Remus, lifting his glass full of firewhiskyencouragingly. Sirius had to grin, but swallowed his comment. He never needed much luck with women. Not in Hogwarts, not as an Auror – well maybe in Azkaban, but that didn't count.

As charming as ever, he would succeed. Well, if he could tear Molly from Ally which would finallyallow the opportunity to talk with her more...romantically.

"Look at their color! Aren't they dashing?! And they smell so sweet! Do you smell it?" Sirius walked silently into the room, just as Molly was about to force Ally to breathe directly above the flowers by pushing her to one of the corners, where a high vase stuffed with all kinds of somehow glowing flowers stood. "Oh, yes...indeed...", laughed Ally unsure, while playing nervously with her fingernails. "Oh, and the color. Look at it. Isn't it unique? The petals are also charmed, so they won´t-"

"Molly, I don´t want to interrupt your pleasant discussion"Sirius needed a lot of self control to not grin from ear to ear. "-but I think Arthur needs a cup of your wonderful tea." Molly paledimmediately. "I know his pain is unbearable, but no! My stubborn husband is trying to act strong in front of our children! Isn't he a wonderful father?! "Not a moment later, she stormed out of the room, right to the kitchen to fetch her faithful husband a cup of her soothing and bracingtea.

"Oh, I hope Mr Weasly is all right..." With a worried look Ally glanced at the door Molly had just exited.

"Don´t worry."

"Don´t worry?! Mr Weasly is still an injured man! How can you say something like this? There is all reason to be-"

"Calm down, Ally!", laughed Sirius. "Arthur is completely fine."

Ally blinked confused. "Then why did you-"

"Maybe I just wanted some time with you alone?!" Sirius stepped over to her, almost close enough to hug her, while Ally started blushing for her life.

"I-I-I think w-we-" He grinned wider. Stuttering made her even cuter.

"We what?! Dance?"

"D-Dance? No, not dance!" Already too late. Sirius pulled her closer and placed his hand certain of victory on her back. In the background Celestia Warbeck´s voice repeated over and over _A kettle full of Hot, Strong Love_.

The song, no matter how cheesy it was didn't matter to him. He had Ally in his arms, without fearing she was goig to cry or hit him. They were dancing too a ridiculously cheesy song. Just dancing and smiling at each other like love sick teenagers.

"I never thought you could dance a waltz...", she nearly whispered after what seemed to Sirius like a blissful eternity.

'I'm full of surprises!" His eyes twinkled mischievously. Actually he had learned to waltz for James' and Lily´s wedding. Teasing his best friend through snatching the bride away for a short waltz seemed appropriate for their relationship. "Dancing, my fair lady, is only one of my many talents."

Ally laughed quietly. „Of course. How could I ever doubt you?"

Instead of giving another comment about his glorious self, he started spinning her around, so that she would stumble against his chest.

"Yeah, how could you?" He encircled her with his arms, so that she would be unable to step back. To his biggest joy, she didn't even flinch. Just clambering shyly at his blazer.

He looked down at her. Her big brown eyes looking straight back. Slowly he lifted his hand and pushed one of her brown strands behind her ear. "Maybe I should get a redemption..."

Sirius bent down and kissed her.

* * *

**Yay! They kissed! Hurray!**

**Biggest thanks to my beta Maesilverpaws for reading over it in barely six hours!**

**'Til next time!**


	17. First Talk

**First Talk**

It was late, when Sirius knocked on Harry's door. The Weasley's had left two days after Christmas and now everything had quieted down.

"You awake?" he asked quietly, with only his head poking through the door..

"Yeah...everything alright?"

Slowly, Sirius stepped into the room. "Don't worry...I...uh...just wanted to talk with you..."

"In the middle of the night?"

"Yes...", slightly embarrassed, Sirius moved over to him and sat down next tohim. For awhile it was silent. Only Hedwig on her nightstand made soft 'shu' in the dark.

"Is really everything alright? You look quite troubled."

"No, no...quite the opposite." Sirius laughed half-heartily. "...the complete opposite..."

Harry gave him a puzzled look.

"I wanted to tell you since two days ago, but..."

Harry raised his left brow,

"What do you think of Ally?"

"I like her...she's nice...After all she was the one, who brought me to you. And cooked for us, and cleaned with us..." Both laughed. "I'm glad she's in the order."

"Me too...You'd like to have her more here?"

"Yeah, why not? - Why are you asking and in the middle of the night to boot.

"She'll come more often now..."

"You mean...you're a couple?"

Sirius nodded.

"Does that mean you're going to get married or something?" Harry asked tiredly. After all it was still in the middle of the night.

"...I-I don't know." Sirius scratched the back of his neck slightly absent. Marriage? Will he marry Ally? Did he want to marry her? Children? Women normally want children, right?

And why on earth is he thinking about this? They had been together for only two days! The one thing he should worry about wasn't marriage, but staying alive in this bloody war and to have a halfway normal relationship. "It's all quite fresh..."

Silence.

"What do you think?"

Harry blinked perplexed. "Think about what?"

"Me and Ally. - Are you...uh..alright with it?!"

Harry had to blink again. "Are you asking for permission?"

"Yes- I mean no." Sighing Sirius hung his head, while brushing loose hair out of his face.

"Ally said that I should speak with you first, before we 'rush into something'!"

"You can tell her, as long as you two don't wake me in the middle of the night again, I am perfectly alright with it..." Harry had to yawn.

* * *

"I still can't believe it...", Alina whispered over and over again. She and her best friend were sitting at the small kitchen table in Alina's messy flat, talking about the recent Christmas party.

"Lisa...It's...I can't believe it!"

The mentioned friend clicked with her tongue, while unpacking a box of chocolates. "It was the same, when Phillip proposed to me, remember?"

"Of course; you were switching between 'I am a lucky elf dancing on a flower field' and 'I was dreaming!" Alina laughed and took one chocolate out of the box. "You needed two full days to calm down."

"I wasn't like an elf..."

"But you were dancing." They grinned at each other. For awhile Alina just smiled at the chocolate in her fingers, just enjoying the sight of it. How the chocolate melted slowly and got smother and smother. She stared and stared and stared.

"Hey!" Lisa flicked with her fingers. "What are you daydreaming about?"

"N-Nothing."

"That didn't look like nothing..."

"It's really nothing."

"Then why are you playing with your fingernails?"

Alina flinched. "I...suddenly just can't believe it...and not in the euphoric way..." Depressed she looked at her chocolate smeared fingers. "You know...Sirius is..."

"...not your usually type of man? - Face it, Alina. You never had any luck with your type of man. So why shouldn't it work with the complete opposite?"

"I...I don't know. I want to be happy! I really do. When we kissed it felt like magma was in my veins and-and the world really stopped. It did..." She smiled dreamily.

"He swept you of your feet, didn't he?"

Alina had to giggle. "God, he's such a _good_ kisser!" She sighed, while resting her forehead on the table.

"You never talked about other men like that." said Lisa pensively. "Especially...you know whom."

She coughed slightly.

"I know. When I am with him, I feel so...different. I don't know how to describe it." Alina straightened herself.

"You're just in love."

"You are in love?" From out of nowhere, a blond women's head poked through the front door.

"Maike? How did you get in here?" Surprised Lisa and Alina turned to their friend, who came nonchalantly in, kicked off her high heels and sat down at the table.

"I wanted to surprise you, so I took the spare key you hid behind the door plate. - But forget about the key: You are in love! Finally! After being single for almost two years!" Alina flinched. "Who is it? Do I know him?"

"No...I met him last summer. He-"

"A summer romance? Oh, how romantic!"

"It's not that romantic..."

"Come on! Laying at the beach together, swimming-"

"You do realize, that she was in England for six week. Not in the Caribbean.",interrupted Lisa slightly agitated.

"But how did you meet and more importantly _flirt_ with him?" Maike slightly pouted.

"I..eh..He is the..er...He's one of my pupils godfather."

"...You met him in a school?!"

"And? What's wrong with that?"

"Does that mean...he's in charge of-"

"Yes, he has custody for his godson."

"My goodness, Alina. Did you ever thought about that? You're too young to be a mother!"

"I'm only going out with him for two days! For god's sake, I don't even know if it will even work between us!" Alina sighed deeply. "And if it calms you, if – and I am only saying if – I and Sirius-"

"His name is Sirius?"

"Yes, like the dog star in Orion's belt. So even-

"How lame! - Sorry, continue."

"So even if we would end up together, his godson goes to a boarding school in Scotland. He wouldn't be – how would you say it – in the way!"

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just...Okay, maybe I somehow meant it like that. But, you know.. A little time together, cuddling doing you-know-what without being interrupted by a snotty brat..."

"Harry is fifteen..."

"Fifteen, How old is then this Sirius guy? Forty? Forty-five?"

"No, Sirius is thirty six."

"Thirty six!? Thirty six! - Shit, Alina! He's almost nine years older than you!"

"I didn't fail math. I can calculate our age difference myself." snapped Alina back. "Do you want to criticize my boyfriend more or was it already enough for today?" Inside herself, her stomach flipped. She just called Sirius her 'boyfriend'.

"I-I am sorry...really. I didn't wan-" Maike sighed. "Look. I am just worried. And I am a bit jealous, you know?!"

Alina laughed. "Jealous? Why would you of all people be jealous of someone?" Indeed. Why? She was engaged and soon married. Had a safe job, didn't need to worry about a dark wizard rising from the ashes, who strived for world domination or anything related to magic. Her life should be perfect.

"You know...When you really marry this Sirius guy, you'll most likely move to England and we won't see each other anymore..."

Not a second later Alina's anger disappeared and she pulled her friends into a tight hug.

"Don't worry. We three will always be friends. I promise!"

After a long pause, Maike raised her voice again. "You do realize, that you have to fly him in for my wedding, don't you?"

* * *

**There, there...Now you met Maike and Lisa. And? What do you think of them? Do you like them? ;D**

**Feel free to leave a comment for wishes or predictions! Maybe they'll become true ;)**

**The next chapter will come faster. I promise!**

** 'Til next time**


End file.
